Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


r.l  i — 


( G  ab  ri  el  T.  Harrowe  r. ) 

is 


ATOR  27  DIST 


•> 


WEST   SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 
New-York,  1870-1871. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

SIX    PUBLIC  MEETINGS 

HELD  ON  THE 

22d  DECEMBER,  1870, 
11th  JANUARY,  1871, 
8th  FEBRUARY,  1871, 
8th  MARCH,  1871, 
12th  APRIL,  1871, 
26th  MAY,  1871. 


J  ADNAH  SACKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER, 
No.  48  John  Street. 

1871, 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  B.  MARTIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  EUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street. 

TREASURER, 

B.  H.  AEKENBUEGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKENBURGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
ROSWELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SANFORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  8TEVENSON, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JpHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MARSHALL  O.  ROBERTS, 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVERMORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BENJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/proceedingsofsixOOwest 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  West  Side  Association  was  organized  in  the  year  1866, 
for  the  promotion  of  the  Public  Improvements  in  the  City  of 
New- York,  on  the  West  Side  of  Central  Park,  North  of  59th 
street. 

The  Boulevard  drive,  the  Riverside  and  Morningside  Parks, 
and  the  New  Avenues  laid  out  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners 
of  the  Central  Park  are  the  most  notable  of  these  improve- 
ments. 

At  various  times  since  its  organization,  the  Association  has 
held  public  meetings  in  reference  to  these  improvements,  the 
legislation  to  inaugurate  them,  and  the  work  in  the  Public  De- 
partments necessary  to  carry  them  out,  and  also  in  reference 
to  street  openings,  local  taxation  and  assessments  and  the 
system  and  construction  of  sewers. 

These  meetings  were  generally  reported  at  the  time,  and 
many  of  the  speeches  and  documents  have  been  published  in 
pamphlet  form. 

In  the  progress  of  its  work,  the  Association  was  found  effi- 
cient in  protecting  the  interests  of  property  owners,  in  uniting 
them  in  favor  of  the  rapid  completion  of  these  improvements, 
and  in  supporting  by  a  well  sustained  public  opinion  the  pub- 
lic Departments. 


VI. 


The  subject  of  Rapid  Transit;  as  a  means  of  reaching  the 
West  Side,  when  it  becomes  fitted  for  private  residence,  from 
the  business  portion  of  the  City,  has  always  been  considered 
one  of  paramount  importance  and  lias  received  especial  atten- 
tion. The  evils  from  double  taxation,  by  the  taxation  as  per- 
sonal property  of  mortgages  on  real  estate  already  fully  taxed, 
bear  so  heavily  on  owners  of  vacant  property  who  desire  to 
borrow  money  on  it  for  the  purpose  of  improvement,  that  to 
find  a  remedy  for  this  evil  is  regarded  as  of  vita]  importance. 

In  the  fall  of  1870,  public  attention  was  aroused  upon  these 
subjects,  so  that  during  the  ensuing  winter  Six  Public  Meetings 
were  held,  and  the  proceedings  published  in  pamphlet  form 
after  each  meeting. 

These  have  now  been  gathered  for  preservation. 


May,  1871. 


TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

 :o:  

Document  No.  1.    Meeting  22d  December,  1870. 

PAGE. 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  the  Situation,  and  what  is  to  be  done, .  7 
Address  by  Edgar  S.  Van  Winkle  ;  on  the  General  Prospects  of  the 

West  Side,..   17 

Address  by  Wm.  A.  Whitbeck  ;  on  Rapid  Transit,   19 

Document  No.  2.    Meeting  11///.  January,  1871. 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  the  Exemption  of  Bonds  and  Mortga- 
ges from  Taxation,   7 

Address  by  Wheeler  H.  Peckham  ;  on  the  Exemption  of  Bonds  and 

Mortgages  from  Taxation,  •.  10 

Address  by  A.  W.  Colgate  ;  on  Appropriate  Names  for  tbe  New  Ave- 
nues and  Public  Places  on  the  West  Side,   21 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  that  the  plan  of  Rapid  Transit  must  be 

Comprehensive,   29 

Report  of  the  Executive  Committee,   35 

Address  by  Wm.  A.  Whitbeck  ;  on  the  Underground  plan  of  Rapid 

Transit,   30 

Address  by  S.  E.  Church  ;  on  Rapid  Transit  ;  that  the  Road  should  be 

built  by  the  City,   40 

Resolutions,   50 

Document  No.  3,    Meeting  8th  February,  1871. 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  the  Condition  of  the  Broadway  Widen- 
ing, and  the  Riverside  Park,  '   7 

Resojutions  and  Report  of  the  Executive  Committee,   9 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  Rapid  Transit,  Broadway  the  Route, .  11 
Address  by  Hon.  Wm.  B.  Ogden  ;  on  General  Principles  of  Rapid 

Transit,   27 


viii. 


Document  No.  4.    Meeting  8th  March,  1871. 

PAGE. 


Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  Broadway  Widening,   7 

on  Riverside  Park,   10 

on  the  Improvement  of  the  Boulevard  and 

Buildings  in  the  Park,   11 

Address  by  John  W.  Pirsson  ;  on  the  Correct  Principles  of  Assessments,  13 

Address  by  Wm.  Coventry  H.  Waddell  ;  on  Rapid  Transit,   20 

Address  by  E .  M.  Barnum  ;  on  Rapid  Transit  by  an  Elevated  Road, . .  28 
Paper  by  H.  B.  Bacon  ;  on  the  Present  Condition  of  West  Side  Improve- 
ments,   40 

Document  No.  5.    Meeting  12th  April,  1871. 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  on  Rapid  Transit,  and  the  Incorporation 

of  the  Viaduct  Company,   7 

Address  by  James  F.  Ruggees  ;  on  the  Plan  and  Operation  of  the 

Viaduct,   20 

Paper  by  H.  B.  Bacon  ;  Tables  showing  the  Grades  of  Streets  and 

Avenues  on  the  West  Side,   23 

Document  No.  6.    Meeting  26th  May,  1871. 

Address  by  Wm.  R.  Martin  ;  Review  of  work  accomplished  by  the 
Association  during  the  Season,  and  the  General  Condition  of 
the  Improvements,   5 

Address  by  Hon.  Fernando  Wtood  ;  on  the  General  Question  of  Muni- 
cipal Government,  with  Especial  Reference  and  Application  to 
the  West  Side,  10 

Address  by  Hon.  H.  C.  Van  Vorst  ;  on  the  Assessment  of  Taxes,  and 

the  Exemption  of  Bonds  and  Mortgages  from  Taxation,   30 

Resolutions,   40 


"WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 
New-York,  1870—1871. 


Document  No.  1. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  A 

PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held  on  the   22d   December,  1870. 


ADDRESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  E,  MAETIN, 
EDGAE  S.  VAN  WINKLE, 
WILLIAM  A.  WHITBECK,  &c. 


J.  ADNAH  SACKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER, 
No.  48  John  Sibket. 

1871. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


:o:- 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  B.  MAETIN,  141  Broadway, 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  EUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street 

TREASURER, 

E.  H.  AEKENBUEGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKKNBURGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
ROSWELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  CARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SAN  FORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  STEVENSON, 
JONATHAN  EDGAR, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MABSHALL  O.  ROBERTS, 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVERMORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JAR  VIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BEN  J.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


NOTICE. 


 :o:  

The  West  Side  Association  propose  io  hold  a  series  of  public 
meetings,  during  the  Season  of  1870-71,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
the  attention  of  the  owners  of  property  upon  the  importance  of  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  public  improvements  on  the  West  side  ; 
the  grading  of  Streets  and  Avenues,  and  the  completion  of  the 
Public  Parks  already  laid  out ;  and  upon  the  necessity  of  rapid 
transit :  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  public  opinion 
on  these  subjects  into  poicer,  and  giving  it  the  right  direction  to- 
ward accomplishing  these  objects. 

All  owners  of  Property,  North  of  59th  Street,  and  West  and 
North  of  the  Central  Park,  are  regarded  as  members  of  the  Asso- 
cicdion.  They  are  requested  to  give  notice  of  their  names,  address- 
es and  the  location  of  their  property  to  the  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  papers  of  the  Association, 
personal  notice  of  its  meetings,  and  of  other  matters  that  may 
concern  them. 


The  Meeting  on  22d  December,  1870,  was  opened  with  an 
Address  from  the  President,  who  said  : 

Gentlemen : 

Of  those  who  are  present  here,  this  evening,  all,  it  may  be 
assumed,  are  interested  in  land  on  the  West  side  ;  all  are  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  the  situation  of  things  is  very  un- 
satisfactory ;  all  believe  that  something  can  be  done,  and  are 
intent  upon  the  questions,  what  shall  we  undertake,  and  how 
shall  we  accomplish  it  ?  It  is  these  questions  that  I  propose 
to  answer. 

There  are  gentlemen  here  who  have  land  in  large  parcels, 
paid  for,  from  which  they  seek  to  derive  an  income ;  some  who 
are  ready  to  build  residences  and  occupy  them.  There  are 
men  with  single  lots,  in  which  they  foresee  a  fortune,  and  men 
loaded  with  quite  as  much  as  they  can  conveniently  carry,  on 
credit,  and  impatient  at  the  payment  of  taxes,  assessments  and 
interest.  These  classes  of  owners  are  all  alike  in  their  as- 
sured expectation  of  great  future  value  on  the  West  side  ;  and 
believe  these  assurances  to  be  based  on  the  soundest  calcula- 
tions. If  the  region  we  represent  were,  to-da}r,  in  a  finished 
condition,  streets  graded,  curbed  and  paved,  parks  completed 
and  in  use,  surface  rock  removed,  sewers  built,  and,  above 
all,  accessible  from  down  town  by  rapid  steam  transit,  we  all 
know  that  the  matchless  natural  advantages  of  site  and  loca- 
tion would  fill  up  the  West  side  with  a  population  immediate- 
ly, occupying  residences  as  much  in  advance  of  the  upper 
Fifth  Avenue  region  in  elegance  and  cost,  as  that  regie n  is 
now  in  advance  of  that  part  of  the  city  which  was  occupied  by 
the  best  residences  a  generation  ago.  If  this  were  realized, 
land  on  the  West  side  would  be  of  greater  value,  lot  for  lot, 
than  the  land  in  any  other  district  on  the  Island. 

These  universal  expectations  are  absolutely  sound ;  no  man 


8 


who  has  studied  the  subject  can  bo  shaken  by  any  counter- 
arguments :  but,  at  what  a  distance  from  them  do  we  now 
stand.  Not  a  single  avenue  or  main  thoroughfare  open  for 
travel ;  not  one  street  in  ten  ready  for  building;  the  sewerage 
system  devised,  but  all  unexecuted ;  the  Morningside  and 
Riverside  Parks,  the  crowning  features  of  the  region,  treated 
with  neglect ;  hardly  ten  new  and  permanent  buildings  on  the 
whole  area  ;  and  the  region  the  most  inaccessible  of  any  with- 
in thirty  miles  of  the  City  Hall. 

How  shall  we  bridge  over  this  gulf?  What  shall  we  do  to 
get  the  West  side  ready  for  building  and  occupation?  There 
are  two  conditions,  the  expenditure  of  time,  and  of  money. 
There  is  work  to  be  done.  The  plans  have  been  devised ;  the 
legal  proceedings  in  regard  to  the  main  features  of  the  plans 
have  been,  to  a  great  extent,  accomplished  ;  and  there  is  work 
to  be  done  to  execute  them,  and  work  takes  time  and  requires 
money.  As  to  the  money  there  is  no  difficulty.  We  have 
already  been  educated  up  to  the  point  of  paying  for  street 
improvement  twice  their  cost  without  grumbling.  No  body 
of  men  could  be  more  greedy  to  pay  taxes  and  assessments, 
and  every  intelligent  owner,  if  the  work  could  be  done,  all  fin- 
ished in  a  month,  would  make  a  raise  to  accomplish  such  a 
result,  and  pay  all  his  assessments  in  advance.  But  the 
trouble  is  with  the  time  taken  ;  not  the  reasonable  time  taken, 
but  the  utterly  unreasonable  time  wasted,  the  indefensible 
and  outrageous  delays. 

Every  thing  hangs  here.  On  this  single  point  hinges  the 
prosperity  of  the  West  side.  On  this  depends  the  question 
whether  our  property  becomes  of  great  value  and  profit  to  us 
soon  ;  or,  whether  it  is  half  wasted  in  taxes,  assessments  and 
interest,  by  the  needless  and  unjustifiable  delays  of  the  city 
authorities.  I  shall  dwell  a  moment  on  this  point,  to  make  it 
clear  to  you.  Take  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  a  single  lot, 
well  situated  for  a  first-class  residence.  He  knows  that  the 
pressure  of  population  would  find  him  an  occupant,  now,  if 
the  land  was  ready — he  can  form  a  judgment,  from  the  value 
of  land  in  built  up  portions  of  the  city,  that  his  lot,  if  ready 
for  a  building,  would  be  worth  say  $20,000.  Now,  if  the 
street  improvement  could  be  carried  on  rapidly,  and  the  land 


0 


be  ready  for  building  in  two  years,  he  would  be  able,  in  a 
short  time,  to  realize  the  full  value  of  his  lot ;  but,  if  on  the 
contrary,  it  takes  ten  years  to  produce  the  result,  the  loss  of 
taxes  and  interest,  say  ten  per  cent,  a  year,  reduces  his  lot  to 
a  value  at  which  it  is  hardly  worth  holding.  Now  it  will  be 
clear  that  this  is  the  true  measure  of  the  value  of  vacant  land, 
if  you  will  consider,  that  vacant  land  at  present  is,  in  the  sense 
of  real  productive  value,  worth  nothing ;  that  is — no  sort  of 
building  would  bring,  in  rent,  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  the 
building,  to  say  nothing  of  the  land.  "When  the  improvements 
are  finished,  the  lots  will  be  worth  on  the  average  $20,000, 
real  productive  value.  Now  it  all  hangs  on  the  time  consum- 
ed in  producing  this  result:  present  speculative  value  depends 
on  the  estimate  taken  of  the  time.  If  there  was  a  general  be- 
lief that  it  would  be  done  in  two  years,  two  years'  discount 
would  be  taken  off  the  average  price  of  $20,000,  and  lots 
would  be  lively ;  if  the  popular  impression  is,  as  it  is  now, 
that  it  will  take  ten  or  twenty  years,  the  discount  off  absorbs 
all  the  value  and  property  becomes  almost  unsaleable.  Our 
property,  compared  with  other  sections  of  the  city,  resembles 
the  case  of  a  man  who  owns  a  vacant  lot  on  the  Sixth  Avenue, 
here,  surrounded  with  houses.  His  neighbors  can  erect  hous- 
es that  cost  $25,000  each,  and  get  $5,000  a  year  rent  for  them  ; 
thus  establishing  a  value  of  $25  or  30,000  for  a  vacant  lot ;  for 
it  can  be  used  so  as  to  produce  interest  on  that  sum.  But  by 
reason  of  some  defect  or  impediment,  or,  as  in  our  case,  by 
the  needless  delay  of  the  city  authorities,  he  is  prevented 
from  using  his  lot.  Now,  if  he  offers  it  for  sale,  it  is  clear 
that  this  calculation  will  be  applied  to  it.  How  soon  can  it 
be  used  ?  If  the  purchaser  thinks  he  can  bring  it  into  use  in 
two  years,  he  takes  off  two  years'  discount  from  its  value,  and 
offers  $20,000 ;  if  he  calculates  that  it  cannot  be  used  for 
twenty  years,  he  would  offer  nothing  for  it,  but  use  his  money 
elsewhere. 

This  is  our  case  precisely.  We  want  our  property  ready  for 
improvement,  as  the  East  side  now  is,  and  we  want  no  time 
wasted  about  it.  We  want  the  work  to  go  on.  We  raise  no 
question  about  the  money,  we  pay  for  it,  but  we  want  our 
work  done  with  energy  and  despatch ;  and  this  it  is  just  and 
practicable  to  do  for  us. 


10 


I  wish  to  fasten  your  attention  upon  this  cardinal  point. 
The  West  side  has  gone  through  one  speculative  fever.  Five 
years  ago  we  took  it  up,  and  in  two  years,  devised  the  plans  on 
which  it  is  now  laid  out,  and  saw  to  it  that  the  work  so  far 
was  accomplished.  One  speculative  period  followed  these 
plans  on  paper ;  the  people  generally  were  led  to  have  faith 
in  the  West  side,  began  to  purchase,  and  prices  doubled  up 
rapidly.  There  is  no  more  room  for  speculation.  There  are 
assessments  to  pay  and  work  to  do,  and  owners  may  rely  on  it, 
that  speculation  will  not  start  again,  until  this  paying  time  is 
over.  When  the  public  forsee  that  the  plans  are  beirjg  realiz- 
ed, and  that  it  is  ready  for  occupation,  then  the  public  will 
rush  in  again.  Not  all  the  arts  of  the  auction  mart,  nor  put- 
ting extravagant  prices  on  property,  nor  setting  it  up  for  sale 
at  high  up  set  prices  will  avail  anything.  We  must  go  to  work 
legitimately,  and  bring  a  genuine  article  into  the  market  ready 
for  use.  We  must  see  the  importance  of  having  this  work  ac- 
complished and  having  it  done  now,  and  lend  all  our  power  to 
this  single  thing.  We  must  unite  in  one  common  purpose,  as 
if  we  were  bricklayers,  or  Crispins  against  the  "heathen 
Chinee,"  a  very  hard  thing  for  gentlemen  who  are  merely  prop- 
erty owners,  but  we  must  make  the  attempt  to  concentrate 
public  opinion  and  push  things.  Individually  we  are  of  little 
value ;  politically,  we  know  too  much  even  to  make  the  futile 
attempt ;  but  as  men  who  are  reasonable  and  right,  we  have 
power.  We  can  deal  fairly,  talk  squarely,  and  make  our  power 
felt. 

I  have  said  we  must  push  things.  I  will  tell  you  against 
whom  we  must  push,  what  we  must  push  for,  and  why  we  have 
a  right  to  push  hard. 

We  must  push  against  our  Mayor,  because  he  has,  as  I  well 
know,  the  disposition  and  some  power  to  help  us.  He  has 
already  signalized  his  administration  by  a  very  popular  meas- 
ure, the  reduction  of  the  ferriage  to  Brooklyn,  in  favor  of  the 
working  classes  to  one  cent ;  but  unfortunately,  that  is  adverse 
to  the  interests  of  the  city.  It  tends  to  deplete  it  of  population, 
industry  and  wealth.  Let  him  use  his  general  powers  of  over- 
sight in  favor  of  our  own  Island,  and  bring  the  powerful  pres- 
sure of  Irs  influence  to  bear  in  favor  of  speedy  street  improve- 


LI 


merits  and  rapid  transit  up  town  for  his  own  constituents. 
Above  all,  lie  has  the  force  of  creative  ideas.  He  has  recently 
enumerated  the  claims  of  the  city  administration  to  support  for 
the  public  works  they  have  done  ;  and  we  call  his  attention  to 
some  of  their  glaring  deficiencies,  that  he  may  apply  the  remedy 
there.  Unfortunately  for  us,  he  does  not  own  any  lot  on  the 
Island,  except  one  in  Trinity  Cemetery.  If  he  will  start  from 
his  residence  and  go  up  on  the  west  side,  he  will  find  what  a 
hard  road  it  is  to  travel  even  there  ;  and  he  will  see,  as  he  goes 
along,  what  a  public  service  he  will  render,  if  he  will  help  us  to 
get  into  the  possession  of  our  property  before  he  takes  posses- 
sion of  his  own. 

We  must  push  against  the  Department  of  Public  Parks. 
The  distinguished  gentlemen  in  that  department  understand 
very  well,  that  in  their  charge  are  the  public  works  that  are  to 
make  New  York  the  pride  of  the  country,  as  yet  but  begun ; 
that  the  Central  Park,  grand  as  it  is,  is  but  the  beginning  of  the 
result — when  the  system  of  parks  and  drives  along  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson  and  Harlem  Rivers  is  finished,  and  ornamented 
with  public  buildings  for  galleries  of  art  and  museums — which 
will  elevate  New  York  to  an  equality  with  the  Capitols  of  Eu- 
rope, in  its  public  works,  with  a  grandeur  and  beauty  of  up- 
land and  valley  scenery,  hillside  and  riverside,  that  not  any  of 
those  Capitols  can  match.  Why  should  they  wish  to  postpone 
this  until  the  next  century  ?  Nearly  a  year  ago,  a  committee 
of  this  Association  addressed  a  communication  to  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Riverside  Park,  urging  certain  obvious  and  un- 
answerable reasons  for  finishing  their  work,  to  which  we  have 
never  had  a  reply.  They  were  appointed  in  September,  1868, 
and  from  that  time  to  the  present,  their  report  has  been  prom- 
ised within  thirty  or  sixty  days,  as  constantly  as  Mr.  Seward's 
predictions  were  made  a  few  years  ago  assigning  a  like  period 
for  finishing  up  the  rebellion.  But  that  is  all  that  comes  of  it. 
These  gentlemen  are  performing  a  subordinate  work,  which  is 
under  the  control  of  the  department.  Do  I  not  express  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  property  owners,  when  I  say  that  we 
want  that  work  done  now ;  and  that  we  would  like  to  know  the 
reason  why  it  was  not  done  ten  years  ago ;  except  that  we 
know  that  there  is  no  good  reason,  although  there  may  be,  as 


12 


(here  always  is  for  failure  in  duty,  very  good  excuses.  Th&t- 
Hudson  River  bank  is  to-day,  a  park  already  splendidly  plant- 
ed, for  most  of  it,  since  its  beginning,  has  been  occupied  as 
gentlemen  villas.  It  is  a  park  ready  made,  and  when  a  road 
is  graded  in  it  and  the  enclosure  made,  it  will  be  in  natural 
features,  in  unsurpassed  river  scenery,  and  in  forest  and  orna- 
mental growth  superior  to  the  Central  Park.  Do  we  not  all 
know  it  to  be  a  fact,  that  time  enough  has  been  wasted,  since 
the  order  went  from  the  Central  Park  Board,  for  the  com- 
mencement of  the  legal  proceedings  to  acquire  title  to  the 
land  for  the  public  use,  two  years  and  eight  months,  including 
three  -  Summers,  for  this  park  to  be  completed,  and  in  use  ? 
We  want  that  work  done,  and  we  will  dispense  with  all  excuses 
if  that  work  can  be  done  now. 

Nearly  six  months  have  elapsed  since  the  title  of  the  Morn- 
ingside  Park  was  acquired.  Are  there  not  gentlemen  present 
who  are  ready  to  build  their  houses  on  those  beautiful  heights, 
if  that  were  a  park  in  fact.  It  is  four  years  since  the  plan  of 
that  Park  was  adopted,  and  surely  some  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  design  for  its  improvement.  Is  it  not  time  that 
progress  was  made  in  the  work? 

The  department  has  also  power  over  the  Boulevard,  which  is 
now  being  actively  worked ;  they  are  also  completing  the  circle. 
This  latter  public  place,  is  an  illustration  of  wasted  time.  The 
Central  Park  Commissioners  acquired  possession  of  it  three 
years  ago.  What  they  had  to  do  was  to  grade  it,  to  lay  the 
curb  and  to  pave  the  carriage  way.  As  this  work  is  almost 
completed,  we  refrain  from  any  comment,  except  to  state  the 
singular  cause  of  the  delay.  At  the  outset,  the  track  of  two 
railroads  crossed  at  the  centre  of  the  circle  ;  the  design  was  for 
a  pedestal  at  the  centre  for  some  monument,  surrounded  by  a 
curb  of  50  feet  diameter.  It  became  necessary  to  remove  the 
tracks  of  these  railroads,  and  relay  them  so  as  to  bend  around 
the  little  circle,  say  about  a  week's  work.  In  the  case  of  the 
Eighth  Avenue  road,  as  great  bodies  move  slowly,  it  has  taken 
two  years  to  do  this.  There  was  no  lack  of  power,  and  the 
removal  was  inevitable,  yet  it  has  taken  two  years.  Such 
things  occur  from  lack  of  attention  and  of  the  energy  which 
should  mark  the  action  of  public  authorities,  and  are  a  warn- 
ing for  the  future. 


13 


We  must  push  also  against  the  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works.  He  has  given  out  three  contracts  for  grading  Eighth 
Avenue.  In  the  lower  section,  from  59th  to  77th  streets,  he 
has  allowed  one  year  for  the  work ;  in  the  upper  sections, 
each  about  one  mile  long,  he  has  allowed  three  years.  The 
Pacific  Railroad  was  built  in  less  time.  We  all  know,  by 
experience,  that  these  limitations  are  flexible  and  pull  out  to 
three  times  their  length.  We  ask  him  to  insist  on  the  time 
he  has  fixed.  This  is  the  reason  why  Eighth  Avenue  lots 
have  only  one-half  the  value  of  those  opposite  on  the  Fifth 
Avenue  ;  while,  if  the  Avenue  was  graded,  they  would  be 
worth  the  most :  they  have  every  natural  ground  and  reason 
for  being  so.  As  for  the  Ninth  Avenue  and  Tenth  Avenue 
grading,  when  we  wish  that  he  may  live  to  see  them  complet- 
ed, we  ask  for  him  more  than  he  has  given  us  reason  to  expect 
for  ourselves. 

Our  interests  are  more  in  the  power  of  this  department 
than  of  any  other.  He  can  give  out  at  once  the  contracts  for 
the  grading  of  the  principal  thoroughfares  and  streets,  at  fair 
prices,  and  with  fixed  limitations  of  time,  and  insist  on  the 
limitations  :  or,  in  each  of  these  respects,  he  can  do  the  other 
thing,  and  we  suffer,  as  it  is  not  fair  for  him  to  make  us  suffer. 
He  can  give  attention  to  the  work,  and  enable  us  to  realize 
our  expectations ;  or  he  can  disappoint  us  by  endless  delays. 
We  want  him  to  understand  our  opinion  on  these  subjects. 

We  have  a  right  to  push  things.  I  defend  you  at  the  out- 
set from  any  imputation  of  selfishness.  The  improvement  of 
the  West  side  will  be  the  crowning  glory  of  the  Metropolis. 
We  are  ready  to  spend  money  in  buildings.  We  will  render 
the  same  public  service  that  the  Fifth  Avenue  owners  have  in 
lining  that  Avenue  with  elegant  residences  ;  or  that  the  Broad- 
way owners  have,  with  marble  palaces  for  banks  and  ware- 
houses. We  have  a  right  to  push  things.  We  have  a  city 
administration,  who  are  also  in  power  in  the  State  ;  they  have 
no  lack  of  power,  legislative  or  executive,  to  do  all  that  we 
need.  They  are,  by  our  aid,  firmly  seated,  and  have  now  no 
need  to  give  all  their  attention  to  holding  themselves  in  ;  but 
are  settled  in  their  duties,  and  have  a  general  comprehension 
of  the  case,  and  know  that  we  are  reasonable.    They  are  well 


14 


paid,  and  paid  in  advance.  We  are  reconciled  to  the  fact,  if 
fact  it  be,  that  they  are  paid  better  than  the  Pioyal  adminis- 
tration of  England,  because  they  have  it  in  their  power  to 
give  us  a  better  administration,  one  that  is  worth  more  pay. 
They  hold  certain  prominent  pieces  of  property  which  stand 
out,  as  one  walks  up  town,  as  so  many  "  Receipts  of  payment.'* 
They  were  supported  in  the  last  election  by  many  tax  payers, 
on  the  avowed  ground  that  they  could  give  us  a  vigorous  ad- 
ministration ;  that  they  would  have  the  ambition  to  deserve 
well  of  their  constituents ;  and  that  the  great  public  works  on 
this  Island  would  be  vigorously  pushed  forward,  even  without 
our  help.  When  we  complain  only  of  needless  waste  of  time, 
of  unnecessary  and  injurious  delays,  we  stand  on  reasonable 
ground,  and  have  a  right  to  push  men  who  ought  not  to  wait 
for  pushing. 

We  have  a  right  to  push  things  as  tax  payers,  and  assess- 
ment payers ;  men  who  bolt  such  things  without  looking  at- 
them,  and  only  ask  that,  while  we  pay,  the  work  may  go  on. 
In  the  series  of  Central  Park  reports,  year  by  year,  there  hava 
been  published  tables,  which  have  a  cool  side  when  you  come 
to  look  around  for  it.  These  tables  have  been  made  to  shew 
that  the  cost  of  the  Central  Park  has  been  much  more  than 
balanced  by  the  increased  taxation  on  the  increased  valuation) 
of  the  land  bordering  on  it.  This  is  consoling  to  the  public,, 
but  hard  on  the  men  who  have  paid  so  much  and  received  so 
little.  Since  1860,  the  tax  valuation  in  the  12th  and  22d 
Wards  has  been  increased  from  $26,000,000  to  $90,000,000  in 
1870.  During  those  ten  years,  the  property  in  those  two- 
Wards  has  paid  more  than  $10,000,000  of  taxes.  This  is 
greater  taxation  on  this  land  above  59th  street,  than  all  the 
property  there  would  rent  for.  There  is  no  other  instance  of 
such  burdensome  and  unjust  taxation.  If  the  city  authorities, 
fix  a  high  valuation  on  vacant  lands,  and  make  us  pay  the  taxes,, 
they  are  bound  to  push  on  the  improvements,  so  that  the  pro- 
perty may  be  brought  into  use,  and  earn  rents  to  pay  taxes  ; 
still  more  are  they  bound  not  to  tolerate  unreasonable  and 
needless  delays. 

I  have  already  shewn  to  you  that  value  depends  on  the  time 
within  which  these  improvements  are  made,  and  the  property 


15 


made  ready  for  use.  They  commit  a  great  injustice  when 
they  fix  a  valuation,  which  can  only  be  justified  by  the  expec- 
tation that  these  improvements  will  be  pushed,  and  tax  us  on 
it;  and  then,  by  their  neglect,  for  which  no  one  will  pretend 
that  there  is  an  excuse,  retard  these  improvements  indefinite- 
ly. I  commend  the  cool  side  of  these  tables  in  the  Central 
Park  reports  as  a  subject  for  your  calculations. 

Another  vital  question  for  us,  on  which  I  shall  detain  you 
for  a  moment  only,  is  rapid  transit  to  make  the  West  side 
accessible.  During  the  last  ten  years,  enough  population  has 
accumulated  around  the  Metropolis,  if  it  had  been  swarmed 
on  this  Island,  to  fill  half  up  its  vacant  spaces.  It  has  gone 
off  to  Long  Island,  Staten  Island  and  New  Jersey.  The  vil- 
lages in  those  directions  for  30  miles  have  been  made  accessi- 
ble, while  the  West  side  has  virtually  been  pushed  thirty 
miles  off.  This  is  the  wrong  sort  of  pushing,  and  we  want  to 
reverse  the  motion  and  retain  our  own.  I  do  not  know 
whether  this  exodus  to  New  Jersey  is  due  to  the  gentlemen 
who  govern  us,  as  that  to  Long  Island  is  aided  by  Mayor 
Hall ;  but  I  have  seen  a  fact  stated  in  the  papers,  of  which 
we  would  like  to  know  the  significance  :  it  is,  that  the  splen- 
did locomotives  which  draw  the  trains  away  from  the  Jersey 
side  of  the  River,  bear  the  distinguished  names  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  noble  families  of  Tweed,  Sweeny  and  others  com- 
monly associated  with  them. 

There  are  three  points  to  this  question  of  rapid  transit ; 
Capital,  Route  and  Plan.  By  an  extraordinary  misconception 
of  province,  the  Legislature,  before  whom  this  matter  has 
been  for  the  past  five  years,  have  assumed  to  determine  these 
questions  of  route  and  plan,  forgetting  that  capital  alone, 
could  determine  them  ;  and  so  they  have  given  us  a  route  and 
plan  that  capital  has  rejected,  and  the  question  must  this  year 
come  up  anew.  As  to  plans,  they  are  without  number,  eack 
with  strong  advocates  ;  we  may  retain  our  individual  opinions* 
and  be  all  free  to  unite  in  support  of  that  one  which,  when  it 
passes  the  stage  of  paper  discussion,  and  is  put  to  the  practi-^ 
cal  test,  draws  the  support  of  men  capable  of  putting  it  through. 
As  to  capital,  has  it  not  become  clear,  that  so  great  and  ne- 
cessary a  work,  and  one  attended  with  so  many  obstacles 


16 


should  be  supported  by  the  public  credit,  in  the  same  way 
that  the  Croton  Acqueduct  was  in  old  times,  and  as  the 
Brooklyn  Bridge  is  now  undertaken.  The  principles  on  which 
this  can  be  done  are  simple,  and  it  would  secure  the  result. 
As  to  route,  it  is  equally  clear  that,  whatever  is  done  on  the 
river  borders,  there  must  be  a  route  that  is  central  down  town, 
and  that  branches  and  passes  up  town  on  either  side  of  the 
Park.  As  to  the  clown  town  portion,  no  one  wonld  build  off 
from  Broadway,  unless  on  a  guarantee  that  one  on  Broadway 
should  be  prohibited.  This  brings  us  to  a  point  which  we 
must  discuss,  and  on  which  we  must  concentrate  public  opin- 
ion ;  and  strange  to  say,  here  we  must  push  against  Broadway 
owners,  the  very  men  who  would  gain  most  by  it.  I  can  but 
give  you  the  fundamental  propositions.  Broadway  has  been 
made  valuable,  because  the  travel  which  benefits  it  has  been 
concentrated  on  it,  and  because  wealthy  residents  have  settled 
on  its  upper  borders.  When  the  West  side  becomes  full  of 
money-spending  population,  Broadway  will  be  benefitted,  if 
its  travelling  accommodation  is  doubled,  and  the  uptuwn  pop- 
ulation still  traverse  it,  and  it  will  be  injured  if  this  new  up- 
town population  is  driven  off  from  it:  that  is,  the  need  of 
Broadway  is  to  accommodate  more  fully  and  concentrate 
travel,  and  not  drive  it  away.  On  this  point,  we  must  over- 
come the  Broadway  owners  themselves. 

They  are  headed  by  a  gentleman  of  great  capacity,  but  he 
has  himself  answered  his  own  arguments  against  a  road  on 
Broadway  by  offering,  in  the  true  mercantile  spirit,  to  buy 
the  franchise,  and  build  it  himself.  His  opposition  is  now  in- 
tensified by  his  Long  Island  speculation.  He  has  chosen  the 
spot,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  the  natural  disadvantages  of 
which  caused  it  to  lie  deserted  for  tw^o  centuries,  and  is  going 
to  force  the  growth  of  a  city  on  it,  toward  which  he  must  coax 
population  by  depleting  us,  and  keeping  us  without  steam 
transit.  He  is  a  great  merchant,  but  is  less  than  a  novice  in 
the  real  estate  line.  He  will  be  another  illustration  of  a  man 
who  can  accumulate  a  fortune  which  it  is  beyond  Ins  power  to 
Landle.  Any  real  estate  man  could  explain  to*  him  that  his 
speculation  contains  all  the  elements  of  failure.  It  concerns  us 
only  because  wTe  see  in  it,  and  in  other  similar  enterprises,  a 


17 


strong  source  of  opposition  to  the  great  and  vital  necessity  for 
this  Island,  rapid  transit. 

I  have  a  word  in  conclusion  with  which  I  might  have  well 
commenced.  It  is  to  thank  you  for  the  honor  you  have  con- 
ferred upon  me,  in  the  office  in  which  I  stand  before  you.  I 
have  shown  you  that  there  is  work  to  do.  I  propose  to  go  to 
work  myself,  and  to  ask  you  to  go  to  work  also.  The  ladies  of 
St.  Louis  once  prepared  a  dressing  gown  and  slippers  for  Col. 
Fremont.  Old  Col.  Benton  received  the  ladies,  and  declined 
their  gift.  Said  he,  "when  Col.  Fremont  rises  in  the  morning, 
he  puts  on  his  coat  and  boots  and  goes  to  work ;  and  when  his 
days  work  is  over,  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed." 


Mr.  Edgar  S.  Van  Winkle,  then  spoke  as  follows  : — 

I  do  not  rise  to  address  you,,  in  the  hope  of  adding  any- 
thing of  value  to  the  presentation  of  the  case  by  your  Presi- 
dent. Nor  shall  I  attempt  to  speak  on  either  of  the  two  lead- 
topics,  namely,  "Kapid  transit,"  and  "Taxes  and  Assess- 
ments," because,  as  I  learn  from  the  printed  notices  of  this 
meeting,  these  subjects  have  been  appropriated  by  other 
speakers.  Nothing  remains  for  me  but  general  remarks. 
Pecuniarily,  I  have  but  a  comparatively  small  interest  in 
the  West  side,  bat  personally,  as  a  citizen  of  this  great 
city,  I  take  a  very  deep  interest  in  it — an  interest,  such  as  one 
feels  in  the  welfare  of  his  country — and  which  exhibited 
towards  one's  city  is  a  minor  patriotism. 

The  "  West  side  "  has  two  possible  fortunes — one  of  the 
highest  prosperity  and  success — the  other,  of  the  deepest 
failure  and  disaster  ;  the  one  to  become  the  crowuing  beauty  of 
onr  great  metropolis — the  other,  to  sink  into  a  neglected  and 
unsightly  suburb. 

New  York,  in  itself,  by  its  positive  and  natural  advantages 
of  a  healthful  climate  and  avenues  of  access,  stands  unrivalled. 
It  has  a  spacious  bay  and  a  noble  harbor.  It  has  two  outlets 
to  the  ocean — one  by  way  of  Sandy  Hook,  only  about  a  score 


18 


of  miles  distant ;  another  by  the  Sound,  through  which  vessels 
can  make  a  full  day's  journey  on  their  way  across  the  Atlantic 
without  losing  sight  of  land.  Its  navigable  water,  communi- 
cations open  in  all  directions — to  the  North  by  the  Hudson 
River — that  beautiful  and  noble  stream — to  the  South  by  the 
Bay,  Narrows  and  Harbour — to  the  East  by  Long  Island 
Sound — and  to  the  West  by  the  Kills,  which  connect  its  bay 
with  the  waters  and  rivers  of  New  Jersey.  These  natural 
advantages  have  been  improved,  and  numerous  lines  of  Rail- 
road connect  New  York  with  all  parts  of  our  extended  country. 
Spacious  and  elegant  edifices  and  warehouses  adorn  its  streets. 
It  has  become  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  nation,  and  is 
one  of  the  money  centres  of  the  world.  Noble  and  beautiful 
parks  have  been  provided  or  projected,  and  when  the  contem- 
plated drives  and  boulevards  shall  be  completed,  New  York 
will  offer  to  its  citizens  a  continuous  drive  through  its  parks 
and  rural  roads  of  twenty  miles  or  more,  without  retracing  a 
foot  oft  the  same  ground. 

Now,  as  the  grand  result  of  all  these  advantages,  this  com- 
mercial pre-eminence,  this  concentrated  wealth,  as  providing 
a  correspondent  and  fitting  residence  for  gentlemen  of  means 
and  leisure — the  West  side,  such  as  it  may  become  under 
judicious  management,  is  the  thing  to  be  desired.  But  with- 
out judicious  management,  without  the  speedy  opening  of 
commodious  avenues  of  access,  without  the  kindly  fostering 
care  of  the  municipal  government,  without  the  doing  away 
with  the  ruinous  system  of  assessments  now  pursued,  this 
possible  future  of  prosperity,  will  never  be  realized,  but  in  its 
stead,  there  will  be  a  mere  extent  of  inaccessible  property, 
rocky  ridges,  and  stagnant  pools,  over  and  through  which  the 
Genius  of  Foreclosure  will  stride  with  rapid"and  triumphant 
steps,  and  in  which  the  vagrant,  squalid,  and  the  criminal 
portion  of  the  population  will  burrow,  and  hide,  and  reach 
their  homes.  ' 

Let  us  then,  in  view  of  these  things,  folio vv  out  the  advice  of 
the  Chairman,  and  push  things  in  all  directions.  Let  us  unite 
in  action,  and  agree  in  some  settled  line  of  policy.  Let  us 
forego  all  prejudices,  and  all  sentimental  attachment  to  po- 
litical parties.    I  do  not  think  the  political  creed  of  either 


19 


democrat  or  republican  will  be  injured  by  adding  thereto  a 
declaration — That  dishonesty,  untaithfulness,  inertness  and 
extravagance  on  the  part  of  any  official,  shall  be  positive 
proof  that  he  does  not  belong  to  our  party,  and  that  we  will 
never  again  vote  for  one  who  is  thas  confessedly  our  political 
opponent. 


Kapid  Transit— On  this  subject,  Wm.  A.  Whitbeck  spoke 
as  follows : 

The  Central  Underground  Kailroad  Company  has  not  com- 
menced work  for  want  of  funds ;  and  this  financial  embarrass- 
ment is  due  mainly  to  the  fact  that  capitalists  are  unwilling 
to  invest  money  on  a  side  line  so  long  as  the  Broadway  route 
is  unoccupied.  They  know  very  well  that  as  soon  as  a  rail- 
road under  Mulberry  street  becomes  a  success,  one  will  be 
constructed  under  Broadway,  and  then  the  side  line  will  be- 
come comparatively  valueless.  In  this  they  are  right ;  and 
as  capital  always  seeks  employment  promising  the  best  results, 
the  whole  question  of  rapid  transit  in  this  city,  so  far  as  un- 
derground railways  are  concerned,  turns  now  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  route,  or  whether  the  route  first  chosen  shall  embrace 
Broadway.  The  chief  promoters  of  rapid  transit  have  always 
comprehended  this  difficulty  in  respect  to  the  side  lines,  and 
hence  their  efforts  to  secure  Broadway  for  their  first  line  of 
road.  We  all  know  the  opposition  this  project  has  encoun- 
tered. Endeavoring  to  overcome  it,  allow  me  to  state  briefly 
some  of  the  characteristics  of  an  underground  road,  its  struc- 
ture as  applied  to  Broadway,  and  in  connection  therewith  to 
speak  of  other  plans  of  conveyance. 

The  tunnel  on  Fourth  avenue,  Murray  Hill,  has  lately  beeri 
cleaned  out,  paved,  whitewashed,  ventilated,  and  made  a  pleag* 
ant  place,  very  different  from  the  dark,  damp,  miserable  hole 
in  the  earth  it  was  six  months  ago.  Passengers  observing 
now  the  agreeable  change  made  in  this  tunnel,  frequently  ex- 
press the  desire  that  it  may  be  extended  in  length,  from  end 


20 


to  end  of  the  Island,  and  instead  of  being  limited  to  horse 
railroad  speed,  that  the  cars  may  be  attached  to  the  locomotive 
and  dash  through  the  city  at  thirty  miles  per  hour.  The 
fact  is,  we  have  here  half  a  mile  of  underground  railway,  and 
the  public  mind  by  this  practical  illustration  is  being  now 
more  than  ever  awakened  to  the  importance  and  value  of  sub- 
ways as  affording  the  best  means  of  rapid  transit  in  this  city. 
Objection  will  at  once  be  made  that  the  Fourth  avenue  tunnel 
is  lighted  and  ventilated  by  openings  in  the  top  of  the  arch, 
and  whilst  this  is  allowable  on  Park  avenue,  which  is  one  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet  wide,  it  is  impracticable  on  Broadway  or 
other  great  thoroughfares,  of  less  width.  There  are  many 
openings  in  the  top  of  the  London  underground  railway  tun- 
nel, in  the  section  of  it  extending  to  the  West  End,  and  also 
where  the  road  runs  through  the  blocks.  But  in  the  dense 
part  of  the  city,  where  the  line  follows  the  course  of  streets, 
there  are  more  than  two  miles  in  length  of  continuous  tunnel 
with  no  open  cuttings  at  all,  except  side  ones  at  the  stations, 
which  are  about  half  a  mile  apart.  The  atmosphere  in  this 
portion  of  the  London  tunnel  is  better  than  in  the  short  one 
on  the  Fourth  avenue,  notwithstanding  the  openings  in  the 
latter;  and  this  is  owing  to  the  continuous  change  in  the 
air,  produced  by  the  great  number  of  swift  running  trains 
drawn  by  locomotives  that  emit  neither  smoke  nor  gas.  Trains 
pass  a  given  point  in  the  London  tunnel  nearly  every  minute, 
Col.  Vandenburgh's  plan  of  separate  construction,  lately  tested 
on  the  St.  John's  Wood  line,  will  make  this  atmospheric 
change  still  greater,  and  render  ventilation  complete.  The 
cars  on  London  roads  are  brilliantly  lighted  with  gas,  each 
compartment  for  eight  persons  having  two  gas  burners.  It 
will  thus  be  seen  that  openings  in  the  top  of  the  tunnel  are 
wholly  unnecessary,  either  for  the  purpose  of  light  or  ventila- 
tion. Again,  the  tunnel  will  be  made  water-proof,  and  the 
swift  currents  of  air  continually  passing  through  it  will  render 
its  interior  condition  as  respects  dampness,  heat  and  cold,  not 
materially  different  from  the  open  atmosphere. 

Many  of  the  owners  and  lessees  of  property  on  Broadway 
object  to  the  tunnel  because  of  the  loss  and  damage  which 
they  anticipate  from  a  general  disturbance  of  business  whilst 


21 


the  process  of  construction  is  going  on.  Their  fears  might 
have  some  foundation  if  the  work  were  done  by  open  cutting, 
but  ifc  is  not  proposed  to  do  it  in  that  way.  The  Broadway 
section  of  the  work  should  be  done  by  "  drifting,"  without 
cutting  the  surface  at  all,  except  at  Canal  street,  and  a  few 
other  points,  perhaps  where  openings  may  be  required  for  the 
removal  of  earth  excavated,  and  the  carrying  in  of  material 
for  construction,  and  these  openings  can,  if  necessary,  be  made 
at  the  side  streets.  The  pneumatic  tunnel  lately  constructed 
and  now  being  exhibited  under  Broadway,  was  made  in  this 
manner.  The  same  plan  was  adopted  in  constructing  the  tun- 
nel under  the  lake  at  Chicago,  and  has  been  successfully 
practiced  in  hundreds  of  other  places  both  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe.  To  remove  the  doubts  of  those  who  apprehend 
insurmountable  difficulties  at  Canal  street,  it  may  be  stated 
that  a  section  of  the  London  tunnel  about  one  mile  in  length, 
extending  from  Westminster  bridge  to  Black  Friars'  bridge, 
is  being  constructed  and  is  now  nearly  completed  in  the  em- 
bankment of  the  Thames,  midway  between  the  old  bulkhead 
line  and  new  embankment  line,  below  the  water  level,  and 
where  recently  the  boats  lay  and  the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed. 

The  fears  of  timid  people  that  they  will  suffer  damage,  and 
that  something  dreadful  will  occur  at  Canal  street,  or  from  the 
disturbance  of  the  water  pipes  or  sewers  under  Broadway,  are 
entirely  groundless.  Nothing  new  or  experimental  is  pro- 
posed. All  the  engineering  difficulties  there  to  be  encountered 
have  elsewhere  been  met  and  successfully  overcome. 

Engineers  estimate  that  to  construct  an  underground  rail- 
way from  the  Battery  to  connections  with  the  Harlem  and 
Hudson  River  Railroads  about  two  years  would  be  required. 
In  answer  to  the  suggestion  that  from  Union  Square  north- 
ward slow  progress  must  be  made  on  acconnt  of  rock  cutting, 
it  may  be  stated  that  the  progress  now  made  in  the  Hoosic 
and  other  railway  tunnels  working  two  headings  in  the  hardest 
rock,  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  feet  from  their  en- 
trances, is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  per  month. 
Even  at  this  rate  of  progress,  under  most  unfavorable  circum- 
stances, by  working  eight  headings  instead  of  two,  only  eight 
months  would  be  required  to  "drift"  from  Union  Square  to 


22 


the  new  depot  at  42d  street,  not  an  unreasonable  time,  and  if 
the  work  were  done  by  open  cutting,  it  could  be  finished 
sooner  still.  Recent  application  of  steam  machinery  to  drill- 
ing, rock-cutting  and  tunneling  has  greatly  facilitated  such 
work,  and  rendered  it  far  less  expensive  than  formerly. 

It  is  believed  by  many,  however,  that  the  cost  of  tunneling 
and  rock-cutting  in  this  city  will  be  so  great  that  the  wTork 
will  not  pay.  It  is  very  certain  if  companies  can  afford  to  cut 
through  and  tunnel  Bergen  Hill,  and  do  similar  work  on  nearly 
every  railroad  line  in  the  country,  that  tunneling  will  be  no 
less  remunerative  in  this  city,  where,  in  addition  to  our  im- 
mense local  travel,  an  underground  railway  running  the  length 
of  the  Island,  would  receive  the  concentrated  travel  of  all  the 
railroads  converging  to  New  York  from  the  north  and  east. 

I  will  not  estimate  in  dollars  and  cents  the  cost  of  an  under- 
ground road,  but  I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  the  opinion  that 
it  will  be  the  least  expensive  rapid  transit  road  that  can  be 
constructed  in  this  city.  That  its  direct  cost  will  not  be  one- 
third  that  of  either  the  elevated  or  depressed  road,  and  that 
indirectly  the  latter  will  cost  more  than  four  times  as  much 
as  the  underground. 

To  practically  illustrate,  and  show  this  indirect  cost,  by 
which  I  mean  damage  to  property,  in  the  case  of  the  de- 
pressed road,  let  us  go  again  to  Murray  Hill.  The  houses  on 
Park  avenue  are  magnificent,  and  the  lots  very  valuable  ;  there 
is  now  an  underground  railway  under  this  avenue,  but  the 
property  is  no  less  valuable  on  that  account.  Now  remove 
the  arch  from  this  tunnel  and  we  should  have  presented  a 
ditch  road.  Would  the  value  of  Harlem  stock  be  increased 
by  that  operation?  Probably  not;  the  road  would  not  be 
benefited  a  particle  ;  the  only  effect  of  this  change  would  be 
a  depreciation  of  fifty  per  cent,  in  the  value  of  houses  and  lots 
on  Park  avenue,  and  a  greater  or  less  depreciation  of  all  the 
property  in  the  neighborhood  on  either  side,  and  if  the  loco- 
motive were  substituted  for  horse  power  in  this  cut,  the  damage 
would  be  greater  still.  We  have  here  a  fair  illustration  of  the 
consequential  effects  upon  property  resulting  from  the  con- 
struction and  use  both  of  the  underground  and  the  ditch  roads. 
Is  not  the  proposition  to  construct  the  latter  ridiculous  ?  It 


23 


certainly  seems  so,  and  the  more  when  we  reflect  that  where 
the  tunnel  is  now  on  Park  avenue,  a  few  years  ago  there  was 
an  open  cut,  and  the  people  protesting  against  the  nuisance 
compelled  the  Harlem  "Railroad  Company  by  law  to  put  it  out 
of  sight  by  arching  it  over,  as  they  have  since  been  required 
to  do  at  Lenox  Hill  and  at  Yorkville ;  and  such  it  is  fair  to 
suppose  would  be  the  fate  of  depressed  roads  generally  in  this 
city ;  they  would  hardly  be  finished  before  the  people  would 
compel  them  to  be  arched  over.  The  Harlem  Railroad  Com- 
pany may  sink  its  track  as  something  better  and  more  satis- 
factory to  the  people  than  running  on  the  surface,  but  the- 
change  will  not  answer  the  public  demand;  the  people  will 
be  no  less  clamorous  against  the  locomotive  in  the  ditch  than 
they  are  now  upon  the  surface,  and  so  if  the  company  would 
profit  by  the  experience  it  has  already  had,  they  will,  when 
they  commence  the  work  of  making  the  depressed  road,  keep 
right  on,  arch  it  over,  and  make  it  a  tunnel  at  once. 

Again,  as  to  the  effect  upon  property  of  the  construction 
of  elevated  ways.  There  is  a  good  specimen  of  this  kind  of 
road  on  the  Fourth  avenue,  where  the  Harlem  Railroad  crosses 
the  low  land,  say  at  110th  street.  Lots  on  the  avenue  just 
here  are  worth  about  one-fifth  their  value  on  Third  or  Fifth 
avenues  in  the  same  neighborhood.  Indeed  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  have  any  value  at  all  except  in  anticipation 
that  this  unsightly  structure  may  some  day  be  removed. 
All  the  property  for  hundreds  of  feet  on  either  side  this  viaduct 
is  to  a  great  extent  injuriously  affected  by  it.  A  similar  road 
constructed  in  Third,IFifth  or  Eighth  avenues  would  be  no  less 
injurious  to  property  adjacent.  This  damage  could  not  be 
less  than  $10,000,000  per  mile,  and  would  be  little  less  upon 
any  practicable  route  through  the  blocks.  In  the  latter  case, 
from  three  to  five  millions  per  mile  would  have  to  be  added 
for  right  of  way ;  and  the  cost  after  this  of  construction  alone 
would  be  greater  than  the  entire  cost  of  an  underground  road. 

They  tell  us  the  viaduct  running  through  the  blocks  on  a 
strip  of  land  twenty-five  to  fifty  feet  wide,  with  nothing  be- 
tween the  houses  and  the  locomotive  to  resist  its  noise  and 
expression  of  force  will  not  cause  any  damage  to  adjoining 
property ;  and  then,  on  the  other  hand,  the  same  persons 


24 


assert  and  charge  with  reference  to  Broadway,  which  is  eighty- 
feet  wide,  that  a  tunnel  buried  beneath  its  center,  enclosed  in 
two  feet  thickness  of  masonry,  and  this  again  surrounded  by 
several  feet  in  thickness  of  earth,  would  utterly  ruin  and  de- 
stroy that  great  throughlare  and  all  the  property  thereon. 
Was  ever  such  inconsistency  heard  before?  People  overzeal- 
ons  often  make  themselves  ridiculous. 

Can  any  one  conceive  of  a  more  senseless  proposition,  or 
one  which,  if  carried  out,  would  be  a  greater  outrage  than  the 
project  of  constructing  an  elevated  railroad  through  this  city? 
I  think  not.  And  yet,  citizens  must  wake  up  and  take  action 
in  this  matter  or  we  shall  have  this  thing  inflicted  upon  us. 
It  is  proposed  by  some,  I  know,  to  substitute  in  the  place  of 
the  viaduct  of  masonry  a  skeleton  frame  work  of  iron,  and  in 
order  that  this  may  be  made  the  more  light  and  airy,  it  is  pro- 
posed to  abandon  the  locomotive  and  use  stationary  power. 
Now,  if  all  this,  or  any  part  of  it,  were  practicable,  it  might 
lessen  the  damage  to  property  a  little,  but  not  much.  The 
right  of  way  would  still  have  to  be  purchased,  for  I  do  not 
think  the  people  will  ever  submit  to  a  repetition  of  the  outrage 
perpetrated  in  Greenwich  street,  by  the  construction  of  even 
a  skeleton  road  on  any  other  street  or  avenue  in  this  city. 
But  such  a  road  is  not  practicable.  It  has  been  tried  in  Lon- 
don and  failed  there,  and  now  all  the  elevated  roads  of  both 
London  and  Paris  are  viaducts  of  masonry,  and  the  only 
motive  power  used  in  those  cities,  either  upon  the  elevated  or 
underground  roads,  is  the  powerful  locomotive.  Stationary 
power  and  pneumatic  propulsion,  though  answering  very  well 
in  a  limited  way,  are  as  yet  impracticable  and  worthless  for 
city  transit.  As  applied  to  this  purpose  they  are  simply  ex- 
periments, their  value  is  unknown.  I  submit  that  if  there  is 
a  power  which  can  stand  and  draw,  or  stand  and  blow  trains 
of  cars  running  in  quick  succession  upon  a  long  line  of  road, 
with  frequent  stations  as  required  here,  all  the  world  would 
know  it  by  this  time.  I  therefore  repeat  that  the  plans  to  do 
away  with  the  locomotive  are  simply  experiments,  and  New- 
York  is  no  place  for  these.  We  have  to  deal  with  established 
facts  and  realities.  We  know  of  no  other  power  at  present 
adapted  to  the  higher  requirements  of  city  transit  than  the 


25 


locomotive.  And  when  this  is  to  be  used  above  the  surface, 
it  must  ran  not  upon  a  light  framework  of  iron,  but  upon  a 
substantial  structure  of  masonry,  on  its  own  roadway,  the  right 
to  which  must  be,  purchased.  I  am  confident  that  this  will 
cost,  directly  and  indirectly,  more  than  four  times  as  much  as 
an  underground  road,  and  not  be  as  valuable  when  completed. 
The  elevated  ways  of  London  are  not  devoted  to  city  travel. 
They  are  continuations  within  the  city  of  the  great  railroad 
lines  coming  from  the  country.  Most  of  the  travel  by  rail 
is  on  the  underground  road. 

Bat  it  may  be  suggested  that  elevated  ways  will  be  fur- 
nished Avith  four  tracks,  and  will  be  much  more  valuable  on 
that  account  than  the  underground,  which  will  have  but  two 
Did  any  body  ever  see  a  road  with  two  tracks  worked  up  to 
its  fullest  capacity  ?  I  think  not.  In  the  London  tunnel  they 
ran  trains  last  year  every  three  minutes,  and  they  were  about 
to  readjust  their  signals  so  as  to  start  every  two  minutes,  or 
oftener  if  necessary.  Those  trains  are  drawn  by  locomotives 
weighing  over  forty  tons,  and  carry  several  hundred  passen- 
gers. Yet  notwithstanding  they  run  in  such  quick  succession, 
no  accident  from  collision  has  ever  occurred.  The  capacity 
of  a  road  with  two  tracks  is  little  short  of  continuous  trains 
each  way.  It  is  very  plainly  to  be  seen  with  so  many  trains 
running  that  the  station  and  depot  accommodation  will  give  out 
long  before  even  two  tracks  are  in  full  use,  and  until  these 
requirements  can  be  doubled  it  is  not  worth  while  to  talk 
about  four  tracks.  At  any  rate,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  where 
a  line  of  road  with  double  tracks  is  worked  up  to  its  fullest 
capacity,  the  next  two  had  better  be  located  on  some  other 
route  ;  the  public  will  be  better  accommodated  thereby. 

To  the  suggestion  that  extra  tracks  could  be  used  for  express 
trains,  the  answer  may  be  made  that  the  peculiar  nature  of 
the  travel  in  this  city  would  render  this  in  a  great  degree  im- 
practicable, besides  the  difference  in  time  between  the  running 
of  express  and  regular  trains  would  not  be  more  than  five  min- 
utes to  the  Harlem  river,  and  I  do  not  think  the  people  of 
Westchester  county  are  under  such  tremendous  pressure  of 
business  that  a  few  minutes  more  or  less  would  make  much 
difference  to  them  in  the  course  of  the  day,  and  if  it  does  they 


26 


cannot  be  accommodated.  It  is  unreasonable  to  ask  that  two 
extra  tracks  shall  be  constructed  through  this  city  at  an  ex- 
pense of  say  $10,000,000  for  the  particular  accommodation, 
night  and  morning,  of  the  people  of  Westchester  county,  or 
others  who  make  money  here  and  go  elsewhere  to  spend  it. 

I  have  not  spoken  of  the  Arcade  Railway  because  I  am  in- 
formed that  project  will  not  be  revived  again.  The  memorial 
presented  by  the  West  Side  Association  to  the  Governor  last 
spring  requesting  him  to  approve  the  Arcade  Bill,  was  based 
upon  the  opinion  that  by  its  provisions  as  amended  by  the 
Legislature,  all  its  arcade  features  were  made  subject  to  the 
consent  of  the  property-owners,  with  full  power  left  in  case 
such  consent  could  not  be  obtained,  to  construct  a  road  on 
the  tunnel  plan,  and  such  I  submit,  was  the  fair  construction 
of  the  bill.  I  make  this  explanation  here  that  persons  ftot 
acquainted  with  its  provisions  may  know  why  the  memorial 
was  sent  by  the  Executive  Committee.  If  the  property-owners 
had  read  and  understood  the  provisions  of  the  Arcade  Bill,  as 
amended  by  the  Legislature,  I  don't  think  many  of  them  would 
have  gone  to  Albany  to  oppose  it. 

What  we  now  want  in  New  York  is  an  underground  rail- 
way upon  a  practicable  route,  that  will  command  the  capital  to 
build  it,  and  that  route  should  embrace  Broadway.  It  will 
be  less  expensive  to  construct  there  and  better  when  done  than 
upon  any  other  line.  It  will  not  injure  property,  for  its  opera- 
tions are  concealed.  Indeed,  it  will  benefit  Broadway,  for  it 
would  concentrate  and  retain  travel  on  that  great  thorough- 
fare which  otherwise  must  go  elsewhere.  Why  look  about  for 
other  plans  involving  immense  destruction  of  property,  and 
routes  where  the  people  do  not  go,  when  they  can  be  fully  ac- 
commodated upon  our  greatest  line  of  travel  by  simply  utiliz- 
ing what  is  now  unused,  viz. :  the  ground  and  space  beneath 
the  surface  of  Broadway.  The  property-owners  have  not  been 
slow  to  utilize  one  half  of  it  for  vaults,  etc.,  for  their  own 
private  purposes.  Let  the  public  now  claim  its  own  and  use 
the  other  half. 


27 


After  these  addresses,  there  was  a  general  discussion'  upon 
the  subjects  which  had  been  presented,  and  the  question 
whether  Rapid  transit  was  a  work  that  should  be  undertaken 
at  the  city  expense,  or  on  the  city  credit,  participated  in  by 
Messrs.  Roswell  D.  Hatch,  S.  E.  Church,  A.  Vredenburgh, 
J.  Mansfield  Davies,  R.  A.  Witthaus,  and  Melville  Smith. 

During  the  discussion,  several  resolutions  upon  these  ques- 
tions were  offered,  which  were  laid  over  until  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Association,  in  January,  1871. 

The  Executive  Committee  were  also  requested,  on  motion 
of  Elijah  Purdy,  Esq.,  to  report  upon  this  subject,  at  the 
January  meeting. 

Whereupon  the  Association  adjourned. 


The  following  additional  subjects  will  be  presented  for  the 
consideration  of  the  Association,  at  the  January  meeting: — 

The  exemption  of  Bonds  and  Mortgages  from  taxation. 

Appropriate  names  for  the  new  Avenues,  Parks,  and  places 
on  the  West  side. 

The  correct  principles  of  assessment. 

New  York,  22d  December,  1870. 

JAMES  F.  KUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION 
New-York,  1870—1871. 


Document  No.  2. 


PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

SECOND  PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held  on  the   11th  January,  1871. 


ADDKESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  K.  MAETIN, 
W.  H.  PECKHAM, 
A.  W.  COLGATE, 
WILLIAM  A.  WHITBECK, 
S.  E.  CHUKCH,  &g. 


-J.  ADNAH  SACKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER 
No.  48  John  Street. 

1871. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 


-:o:- 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  K.  MARTIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street 

TREASURER, 

R.  H.  ARKENBURGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
OOURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKIiNBQRGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KINO, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
ROSWELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  OARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SAN  FORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  STEVENSON, 
JONATHAN  EDGAR, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MARSHALL  O.  ROBERTS 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVER  MORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BENJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


NOTICE. 

 :o:  

The  West  Side  Association  propose  to  continue  their  public 
meetings,  during  the  Season  of  1870-71,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
the  attention  of  the  owners  if  property  upon  the  importance  of  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  pMic  improvements  on  the  West  side  ; 
the  grading  of  Streets  and  Avenues,  and  the  completion  of  the 
Public  Parks  already  laid  out ;  and  upon  the  necessity  of  rapid 
transit :  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  public  opinion 
on  these  subjects  into  poiver,  and  giving  it  the  right  direction  to- 
ward accomplishing  these  objects. 

All  owners  of  Property,  North  of  59th  Street,  and  West  and 
North  of  the  Central  Park,  are  regarded  as  members  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. They  are  requested  to  give  notice  of  their  names,  address- 
es and  the  location  of  their  property  to  the  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  papers  of  the  Association, 
personal  notice  of  its  meetings,  and  of  other  matters  that  may 
concern  them. 


The  Meeting  on  the  11th  of  January,  1871,  was  opened  by 
the  President,  who  stated  : 

That  the  proceedings  of  the  preceding  meeting,  on  the  22d 
December,  1870,  had  been  published  in  pamphlet  form,  as 
Document  No.  1,  and  distributed  as  far  as  practicable  among 
the  members.  That  the  purpose  of  this  publication,  was  to 
preserve  the  statements  and  ideas  brought  out  at  the  meeting 
for  the  use  of  the  members  of  the  Association,  so  as  to  form 
public  opinion,  and  unite  property  owners  on  the  measures 
which  would  advance  their  interests. 

That  the  subjects  selected  for  presentation  to  the  meeting 
this  evening,  were  the  exemption  of  Bonds  and  Mortgages 
from  taxation,  the  appropriate  names  for  the  new  Avenues  and 
Streets,  and  Rapid  Transit. 

On  the  first  of  these  topics,  the  exemption  of  Bonds  and 
Mortgages  from  taxation,  the  President  spoke  as  follows  : — 

Gentlemen  : 

I  propose  to  illustrate  the  subject  of  the  taxation  of  Bonds 
and  Mortgages,  by  three  examples,  which  will  comprehend  all 
the  cases  in  which  the  question  arises,  will  exhibit  the  fact 
that  the  taxation  of  mortgages  is  double  taxation  of  property, 
and  also  show  that  the  injustice  of  it  is  conceded  by  the  law 
itself. 

These  examples  are,  First :  the  case  of  a  lot  of  land  free 
from  mortgage,  and  on  which  the  tax  assessors  fix  a  valuation 
of  $20,000.   At  the  rate  of  two  per  cent.,  the  tax  on  this  land, 


8 


would  be  $400.  Second:  the  case  of  a  lot  of  land,  adjoin- 
ing and  similar  to  the  first,  on  which  the  same  valuation  has 
been  fixed,  but  on  which  there  is  a  mortgage  for  $10,0()0.  On 
this  land,  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent.,  the  land  owner  would 
pay  a -tax  of  $400,  and  the  mortgagee  would  be  assessed  for 
$10,000  of  personal  property,  his  mortgage,  and  on  it  be 
taxed  $200,  making  in  all,  a  tax  of  $600  on  that  property : 
and  third:  the  case  of  a  lot  of  land,  adjoining  and  similar  to 
the  last,  valued  at  the  same  sum,  and  taxed  at  $400,  on  which 
there  is  a  mortgage  for  ten  thousand  dollars,  for  which  the 
mortgagee  is  taxed  $200 — differing  from  the  second  case  in 
this,  that  the  land  owner  had  also  personal  property  assessed 
at  $10,000,  but  he  could  swear  off  against  this  his  mortgage 
debt  of  $10,000,  and  thus  escape  any  tax  upon  his  personal 
property. 

Now  what  does  this  show?  In  this  first  case,  there  is 
$20,000  worth  of  property,  which  pays  $400  tax.  In  the  sec- 
ond case,  the  same  amount  of  property,  paying  $600  tax  ;  and 
in  the  third  case,  $30,000  worth  of  property,  paying  $600  of 
tax :  that  is,  the  second  man  paying  as  much  tax  as  the  third 
man,  who  has  50  per  cent,  more  property,  and  paying  50  per 
cent,  more  tax  than  the  first  man,  who  has  the  same  amount 
of  property. 

There  is  nothing  to  mislead  in  the  figures  in  which  these 
examples  are  set  forth.  They  are  simple  examples;  true, 
whatever  be  the  value  of  the  property,  of  whatever  number 
of  pieces  it  consists,  and  whether  or  not  the  landowner  have 
personal  property  also.  They  are  the  cases  of  the  owner,  who 
holds  his  property  free  from  mortgage ;  the  owner  who  has 
mortgages  on  his  land,  and  has  no  personal  property  ;  and 
thirdly,  the  owner  who  has  mortgages  on  his  land,  and  has 
personal  property  also.  These  examples  show  conclusively, 
that  taxation  of  mortgages  is  double  taxation,  and  that  there 
is  no  just  principle  on  which  such  taxation  can  be  sustained. 

The  taxation  of  this  State  and  City,  with  which  we  have 
now  to  do,  is  taxation  on  property :  that  is  to  say,  this  is  its 
principle,  so  far  as  it  has  any  principle.  The  statute  sa}Ts, 
"  All  lands  and  all  personal  estate,  within  this  State,  whether 
"owned  by  individuals   or  corporations,   shall  be  liable 


9 


"  to  taxation,"  &c.  It  then  goes  on  to  define  land  in  a  sensi- 
ble way,  and  proceeds  to  personal  estate,  and  says,  that  "per- 
sonal estate  shall  be  construed  to  include  all  household 
"furniture,  moneys,  goods,  chattels;  debts  due  from  solvent 
"  debtors,  whether  on  account,  contract,  note,  bond  or  mort- 
"gage;  public  stocks  and  stocks  in  moneyed  corporations." 

The  point  we  contend  for  is  this,  that  to  tax  a  Bond  and 
Mortgage  on  land,  that  is,  an  estate  in  land,  as  personal  pro- 
perty, while  the  same  land  pays  a  tax  as  land,  is  double  taxa- 
tion of  the  same  property,  and  that  this  is  unjust  and  burden- 
some. 

On  that  clear  bare  view  of  the  case,  no  one  will  attempt  to 
justify  the  tax.  It  cannot  be  justified  on  any  principle.  The 
English  principle  of  land  taxation,  so  far  as  land  there  is  taxed, 
is  an  income  tax,  for  it  is,  in  fact  and  in  form,  a  tax  on  the 
annual  value,  the  rent  or  income  of  the  land.  The  taxation 
of  Great  Britain  is  the  most  scientific,  the  most  economical 
in  collection  of  any  people.  The  Englishman  pays  no  poll  tax, 
no  land  tax,  no  salt  tax,  no  taxes  on  any  of  the  necessaries  of 
life,  except  it  be  on  beer,  on  tea  and  sugar.  They  have  taxes 
on  succession  and  transfers  of  property,  stamp  taxes.  Their 
customs  are  levied  on  five  or  six  articles.  Their  income  tax 
affects  those  who  have  realized  property,  producing  income; 
and  their  excise  tax  is  justly  levied  on  the  vices  and  indulgences 
of  the  people.  These  taxes  are  thus  paid  as  nearly  as  practi- 
cable out  of  the  profits  of  the  people;  and  not  levied  on  pro- 
perty, as  such,  without  regard  to  its  productive  value.  If  on 
this  general  principle,  it  were  attempted  to  justify  taxation 
on  mortgages,  on  the  ground  that  they  bear  interest,  and  thus 
produce  an  income,  the  answer  would  be  sufficient  that  the 
land  did  not  produce  any  more  rent  or  any  more  hay  because 
it  was  mortgaged,  and  that  whether  the  land  produced  any- 
thing or  not,  it  was  still  unjust,  after  the  land  paid  its  full  tax, 
to  tax  it  again  because  a  certain  estate  in  it,  the  mortgage, 
was  productive  ;  that  is,  that  it  is  unjust  to  tax  property  as 
property,  and  then  tax  a  special  interest  in  the  same  property 
over  again,  on  the  separate  principle  of  production  ;  to  mix  up 
the  principles  of  property  and  production,  and  screw  a  tax 
through  each  of  them,  on  the  same  piece  of  land.    It  will  also 


10 


be  clear,  that  taxation  of  mortgages  cannot  be  defended  on 
the  pretence,  that  if  one  man  has  money  and  another  land, 
and  the  moneyed  man  lends  it  to  the  land  owner,  that  so  much 
personal  property  is  lost  to  taxation,  unless  the  mortgage  is 
taxed  as  personal  property ;  because,  the  money  either  goes 
into  the  land  and  becomes  transformed  into  an  estate  in  the 
land,  as  in  the  case  of  a  purchase  ;  or,  the  money  remains  in 
use  as  personal  property,  represented  by  a  bond  to  which  the 
mortgage  is  merely  a  collateral  security,  and  very  seldom  ac- 
tually resorted  to.  In  neither  case  should  it  be  taxed,  for  if  it 
still  remains  in  use  as  persona]  property,  it  is  taxable  as  such 
in  the  hands  of  the  man  who  holds  it,  wherever  it  in  fact  is  found ; 
and  if  it  passes  into  an  estate  in  the  land,  and  is  really  repre- 
sented by  the  mortgage,  then  there  would  be  the  same  reason 
for  taxing  a  purchaser  of  land  for  the  money  with  which  he  had 
bought  it,  as  his  personal  properly,  on  the  ground  that  he 
could  sell  his  land  and  get  his  money  back  again.  This  would 
be  a  case  of  double  taxation,  and  palpably  absurd. 

At  this  point  a  man  is  in  danger  of  getting  into  confusion. 
It  is  the  crossing  point  of  two  diverse  principles.  Land  is  taxed 
absolutely  as  property,  without  regard  to  the  owner.  The  taxes 
become  a  lien  on  the  land,  and  if  no  person  pays  up,  the  land 
is  brought  to  a  sale,  and  pays  up  itself.  But  personal  property 
is  taxed  as  the  property  of  an  individual  tax-payer.  The  the- 
ory is,  that  he  is  taxed  for  his  nett  personal  assetts,  after  de- 
ducting his  liabilities.  This  would  work  well  enough,  if  the  two 
principles  did  not  cross.  They  do  cross,  at  this  very  point  of 
Bond  and  Mortgages.  If  you  say  "  Bonds,"  then  they  are  per- 
sonal property,  and  you  go  to  the  personal  tax  clerk,  and  give 
him  the  nett  amount  of  your  personal  assetts,  after  deducting 
your  liabilities.  If  you  say  "  Mortgages,"  then  they  are  real 
estate ;  and  they  must  not  be  counted  as  personal  estate  by  the 
Tax  Commissioners,  for  if  they  are,  there  is  double  taxation :  they 
are  taxed  as  real,  and  as  personal  both.  Here  is  the  trouble 
and  the  conflict.  They  have  two  aspects  : — "Bonds,"  "Mort- 
gages," we  all  know,  in  fact  and  in  practice,  that  they  are  real 
estate  ;  that  a  bond  is  so  decorative  a  figure  head,  that  it  would 
be  laughed  at,  treated  with  open  contempt,  if  it  undertook  to 
take  a  single  step,  without  a  respectable  mortgage  behind  it : 


II 


and  yet  the  tax  laws  call  them  bonds,  the  primary  and  princi- 
pal obligation,  like  a  kite  soaring  steadily  in  the  air,  with  a 
mortgage  behind  it,  to  keep  it  from  flying  too  high. 

Now  test  this  by  a  supposition.  Suppose  a  law  were  passed 
divorcing  bonds  and  mortgages,  a  vinculo,  and  confirming  every 
mortgage  as  a  personal  obligation  of  the  mortgagor,  as  it  is  in 
fact,  and  declaring  that  every  holder  of  a  bond  and  mortgage, 
must  elect  which  he  would  hold,  the  bond  or  the  mortgage,  and 
give  up  the  other.  Not  a  mortgage  would  fall,  but  every  bond 
in  the  State  would  go  into  the  flames. 

So  you  see  where  the  trouble  is,  and  where  the  confusion 
arises.  They  are  in  fact  real  estate,  but  they  are  treated  by 
the  Tax  Commissioners,  in  contradiction  of  the  fact,  as  per- 
sonal estate,  They  are  deducted,  and  this  admits  the  principle 
of  exemption.  Tliey.are  deducted,  but  not  in  the  account  where 
they  belong,  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  man  who  ought  to 
receive  the  deduction.  They  should  be  treated  according  to 
the  fact  as  an  estate  in  land.  Then  the  taxation  would  continue 
to  be  made  on  the  land,  as  land,  without  regard  to  the  name  of 
the  owners,  or  the  quantity  or  quality  of  their  respective  estates  ; 
or,  if  a  separation  were  m  ide,  the  mortgagee  would  be  taxed  for 
his  share,  and  the  owner  of  the  equity  of  redemption  for  his 
share.  In  either  case,  the  evil  of  double  taxation,  of  which  we 
now  complain,  would  be  avoided.  Thus  there  would  be  a  con- 
formity to  the  fact  and  to  correct  principles,  and  no  injustice 
would  be  done.  But  instead  of  that,  they  are  treated  as  per- 
sonal property,  which  they  are  not.  Even  here  no  difficulty 
would  arise  if  personalty  was  taxed  as  property,  in  the  same 
way  that  land  is  taxed  ;  for  then  the  taxes  would  fall  upon  the 
property  itself,  in  whosesoever  hands  it  was  found,  and  not 
upon  the  bond  which  is  merely  the  representative  of  it ;  and 
every  man  would  be  taxed  upon  the  actual  amount  of  personal 
goods  and  chattels  fouud  in  his  ownership.  No  question  about 
bonds  and  mortgages  would  arise.  But  the  difference  in  the 
principle  in  assessing  personalty  makes  another  confusion.  To 
determine  the  amount  of  a  tax  payer's  personalty,  he  makes  up 
the  amount  of  his  goods,  chattels,  ships ;  and  also  his  notes, 
book  accounts  and  bonds,  which  are  merely  credits  or  repre- 
sentatives of  property,  and  from  this  sum  he  deducts  his  debts, 


12 


and  is  taxed  upon  the  nett  result.  Thus  land  is  taxed  as 
actual  property,  and  personalty  as  nett  representative  assetts. 
Now  personal  property,  or  movables,  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  may  be  difficult  to  make  up  the  tax  in  any  other  way, 
without  injustice.  This  ought  to  be  a  reason  for  keeping, 
strictly  to  the  distinctions  between  real  and  personal  property, 
with  which  the  statute  starts,  and  not  mixing  them  up.  When 
land  is  taxed  as  land,  and  personalty  as  nett  assetts,  they 
should  either  keep  each  class  strictly  by  itself,  so  that  each 
may  be  taxed  according  to  its  own  rule  :  or,  if  they  mix  things- 
up  ;  either  mix  them  all  up,  so  that  a  man's  real  and  personal 
estate  should  be  summed  up,  his  liabilities  deducted,  and  his 
tax  be  on  the  nett  amount ;  or,  if  they  make  a  partial  mixture 
do  it  so  as  to  avoid  this  injustice  of  double  taxation  on  one 
article. 

What  has  been  done,  is  the  very  worst  thing  that  could  be 
done.  The  only  item  in  the  list  having  two  aspects,  real 
estate  on  one  side,  and  personal  on  the  other,  has  been  taxed 
as  both  ;  taxed  as  real,  and  also  taxed  as  personal  property 
with  a  pretence  of  justice  in  deducting  the  mortgage,  and  a 
mockery  of  justice  in  not  deducting  it  from  the  land,  where  it  was 
already  once  taxed.  Now  the  remedy  for  this  is  to  regard 
bonds  and  mortgages  as  a  single  kind  of  property,  and  take 
them  out  of  the  category  where  the}'  do  not  belong,  personal 
property,  and  place  them  where  they  do  belong ;  and  this- 
should  be  done  by  a  simple  amendment  to  the  tax  laws,  striking 
out  the  words,  "bonds  and  mortgages,"  from  the  section  where 
the  definition  of  personal  properly  is  given  to  include  them. 

Apart  from  the  principles  which  we  have  been  discussing, 
there  are  certain  practical  considerations  which  fully  justify 
such  a  change. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  fact.  A 
mortgage  is  an  interest  and  estate  in  land.  The  mortgagee 
owns  the  land,  subject  to  a  right  or  equity  in  the  owner  to  re- 
deem it ;  which  right  can  be  cut  off  by  a  summary  legal  pro- 
ceeding or  foreclosure.  These  points  are  familiar  to  land  owners. 
When  a  lot  is  mortgaged  the  property  is  not  increased ;  it  is 
an  arrangement  of  the  ownership,  by  which  one  man  has  a. 
priority  of  estate  for  a  fixed  sum,  and  another  has  the  residue. 


13 


When  one  man  sells  to  another,  and  takes  back  a  purchase 
money  mortgage,  the  former  owner  has  still  an  estate  in  the 
land,  until  the  purchaser  shall  pay  up  the  whole  of  the  pur- 
chase money.  If  he  gets  the  whole  purchase  money  in  cash, 
then  his  real  estate  is  gone,  and  he  has  personal  property, 
money,  in  its  place ;  but  if  he  gets  one  half  in  cash,  then  he 
holds  the  land  until  he  gets  the  residue.  The  case  is  not  differ- 
ent, if  a  third  party  intervenes  to  advance  the  money  to  pay 
the  purchase  money,  and  takes  this  mortgage;  and  this  ex- 
tends it  to  the  case  of  any  mortgage.  It  must  be  a  clear 
proposition,  that  in  the  view  taken  of  the  distinction  between 
real  and  personal  property,  as  the  subject  of  taxation,  mort- 
gages should  be  regarded  as  real  property. 

By  the  law  and  the  practice  under  it,  in  the  second  place,  it 
is  conceded  that  mortgages  should  be  deducted.  The  mort- 
gages a  man  owes,  are  deducted  from  the  valuation  of  his  per- 
sonal property.  What  we  ask,  is  that  this  deduction  be  made 
from  the  right  account.  The  principle  of  deducting  mortgages 
is  conceded,  we  risk  for  a  correct  application  of  the  principle. 
It  is  a  common  occurrence  for  a  piece  of  land  to  be  conveyed 
subject  to  a  mortgage,  and  for  the  purchaser  to  assume  pay- 
ment of  the  mortgage  as  a  part  of  the  purchase  money.  On 
these  common  transactions  the  law  pronounces  that  the  man 
who  assumes  the  payment  of  the  mortgage  is  the  principal 
debtor,  that  the  laud  is  the  primary  fund  for  the  payment,  and 
the  original  bondsman  becomes  a  collateral  surety  only.  Can 
anything  show  more  clearly  than  this,  that  the  mortgage  fol- 
lows the  land,  that  the  bond  or  the  bondsman  may  disappear, 
and  that  it  is  the  land  owner,  as  such,  who  is  the  person  enti- 
tled to  the  deduction.  If.  in  accordance  with  the  view,  mort- 
gages were  not  included  as  personal  estate  under  the  tax  laws, 
they  would  not  be  taxed,  the  land  mortgaged  would  be  taxed 
but  once  only  as  land,  and  justice  would  be  done.  But  if  they 
are  to  be  taxed,  and  deducted  from  the  tax  valuation  of  any 
person,  the  deduction  should  be  made  from  the  land  tax  of  the 
owner  of  the  mortgage  land. 

In  the  third  place,  the  principle  that  double  taxation  of  the 
same  property  is  unjust,  is  admitted  in  the  provision  of  law 
which  declares  that  the  ''owner  or  holder  of  stock  in  any  incor- 


"porated  company,  liable  to  taxation  on  its  capital,  shall  net 
"be  taxed  as  an  individual,  for  such  stock." 

In  the  fourth  place,  bond  and  mcrl  gages  are  exempted  from 
taxation,  in  large  masses,  by  the  operation  of  the  law 
which  taxes  certain  corporations  on  their  capital,  and  a  limited 
amount  of  their  surplus.  Insurance  and  Trust  Companies  and 
Savings  Banks  are  corporations  which  come  within  these  pro- 
visions ;  and  they  may,  as  some  of  them  do,  hold  mortgagee 
amounting  to  five  or  ten  times  their  capital,  and  yet  this  does- 
not  enter  at  all  into  the  settlement  of  the  amount  of  their  tax. 
This  fact  concedes  the  principle  that  it  is  property  that  should 
be  subject  to  taxation,  and  not  paper  obligations  which  are 
merely  representatives  of  property.  The  benefit  of  the  exemp- 
tion of  mortgages  from  taxation  is  shown  by  this,  for  had  it  not 
been  for  these  banks  and  companies  for  the  last  ten  years,  the 
land  owner  would  have  been  destitute  of  all  faculties  for  raising 
money. 

And  lastly,  other  States,  have  set  the  example  to  New-York. 
New  Jersey  has  in  respect  to  certain  counties  in  the  vicinity  of 
this  city,  exempted  mortgages  upon  real  and  personal  property 
from  taxation  in  the  hands  of  any  inhabitant  of  the  State,, 
and,  throughout  the  State,  a  resident  of  the  State  can  have  the 
mortgages  on  his  real  estate  deducted  from  the  valuation  on 
which  the  tax  on  his  land  is  laid. 

This  liability  to  taxation  for  mortgagee  as  personal  property,, 
has  resulted  in  the  discontinuance  of  such  investments,  on  the 
part  of  individuals.  A  man  cannot  afford  to  lend  money  at  7 
per  cent,  on  mortgage,  and  run  the  risk  of  paying  two  or  three 
per  cent,  tax  upon  it.  The  market  is  therefore,  poorly  sup- 
plied with  money.  Borrowers  have  difficulty  in  getting  loans 
on  their  land,  and  this  makes  it  almost  impossible  to  carry  land 
on  credit.  Men  are  unwilling  to  sell,  leaving  a  part  of  the  pur- 
chase money  on  mortgage.  It  keeps  down  prices  and  it  checks 
building,  for  building  is  effected  on  credit,  and  the  money  must 
be  raised  on  mortgage.  The  market  is  constantly  in  the  state 
in  which  the  stock  market  is  in  a  panic,  that  is,  when  men 
with  good  securities  cannot  obtain  loans  on  them  on  reason- 
able margins.  This  state  of  affairs  is  disastrous  to  real  estate. 
In  this  strait  those  who  do  borrow  money  have  to  compensate 


15 


the  lender  for  the  risk  he  runs  of  being  taxed  for  his  mortgage, 
and  this  risk  is  over  estimated  and  over  charged.  This  compensa- 
tion is  made  in  the  shape  of  extra  charges  and  commissions  on 
loans,  and  in  the  modern  way  of  buying  mortgages  at  5  or  10 
per  cent,  discount.  Borrowers  in  this  way,  as  a  class,  pay  many 
times  more  than  the  tax  actually  paid  by  the  mortgagee ;  and 
they  are  obliged  to  submit  to  the  same  discount,  the  current  rate, 
by  those  lenders  who  are  not  liable  to  taxation,  the  financial 
Companies.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  land  owner  in  the  end 
pays  the  tax  on  mortgages,  double  taxation  in  the  beginning,  and 
by  the  time  the  borrower  pays  it,  it  is  doubled  up  again  against 
him. 

I  give  you  a  single  illustration,  although  it  is  by  no  means 
the  most  impressive.  On  the  31st  December,  1859,  the  assets 
of  the  Fire  Insurance  Companies  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
were  $26,323,384,  of  which  there  was  loaned  upon  bond  and 
mortgage,  $19,801,094.  Ten  years  later,  on  31st  [December, 
1869,  the  total  assetts,  were  $53,722,655,  of  which  there  was 
loaned  on  bond  and  mortgage  only  $13,611,232.  During  the 
period,  the  total  assetts  more  than  doubled,  and  the  amount 
held  in  bond  and  mortgagee  decreased  one-third.  In  1859, 
three  fourths  of  the  total  assetts  were  invested  on  bond  and 
mortgage,  and  in  1869,  only  one-quarter  were  so  invested. 

Clearly  we  ought  to  have  an  amendment  to  the  law,  and  wo 
must  discuss  and  ventilate  the  question  in  the  hope  of  ultimately 
getting  justice.  We  will  not  delay  the  time  by  setting  forth  the 
good  and  strong  reasons  why  we  ought  to  have  it.  But  we 
need  not  be  too  hopeful.  The  authorities  are  now  engaged  in 
the  solution  of  a  problem,  which  is  not  consistant  with  giving 
us  relief.  They  are  seeking  to  reduce  the  rate  of  taxation  and 
increase  the  amount  realized  by  the  tax  at  the  same  time ;  that 
is,  to  please  the  public,  by  letting  them  know  that  their  taxes  are 
being  gradually  reduced  from  3  to  2  per  cent.,  and  at  the  same 
time,  getting  more  dollars  of  tax  from  each  one  of  them 
This  is  not  a  difficult  process,  it  is  accomplished  by  increasing 
the  valuations.  Two  per  cent,  a  low  rate,  on  ten  millions 
valuation  produces  more  tax  than  3  per  cent.,  a  higher  rate,  on 
five  millions,  a  lower  valuation ;  and  while  therefore  they  are 
busy  in  increasing  the  valuations  by  all  possible  means,  it  will 


10 


be  difficult  for  them  to  do  an  act  of  justice,  the  effect  of  which 
might  be  to  diminish  the  amount  of  taxable  property  ;  that  is, 
if  one  kind  of  property,  by  operation  of  law,  is  subjected  to 
double  taxation,  that  cannot  be  remedied  now  because  the  effect 
of  it  is  just  what  is  most  needed,  it  enlarges  the  aggregate  of 
taxable  property.  However,  you  are  not  expected  to  see  this. 
You  are  expected  to  be  pleased  with  the  reduction  of  the  rate 
of  taxation  to  2  per  cent.,  and  not  to  confuse  yourselves  with 
any  calculations  as  to  the  increased  valuation  of  your  property ; 
and  if  you  find  that  you  actually  pay  a  greater  tax,  why  you 
are  rich,  and  can  afford  to  do  it. 


On  the  same  subject,  the  exemption  of  Bonds  and  Mortgages 
from  taxation,  Mr.  Wheeler  H.  Peceham  then  addressed  the 
meeting : 


Gentlemen : 

For  a  very  long  time  in  the  history  of  this  State  taxes  have 
been  levied  upon  mortgages  as  if  they  properly  constituted  a 
part  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  people. 

In  our  earlier  days  the  needs  of  our  Goverment  were  so  small, 
and  the  proportionate  wealth  of  our  people  so  great,  that  ques- 
tions of  taxation  were  entitled  to  and  received  but  little  compar- 
ative attention  ;  but  of  late  years  the  burdens  to  be  borne  by 
us  have  so  greatly  increased,  and  our  proportionate  capacity  to 
bear  them  has  so  greatly  decreased,  that  these  questions  now 
loom  up  into  the  very  first  rank  of  importance  and  difficulty. 

So  long  as  taxes  were  light — so  long  as  a  mortgage,  tho'  the- 
oretically subject  to  taxation,  was  very  rarely  so  in  practice,  so 
long  we  were  indifferent  to  the  questions  whether,  in  truth,  they 
ought  to  be  taxed  at  all,  and  whether,  if  they  were,  the  burden, 
like  many  other  forms  of  indirect  taxation,  was  not  rather  a 
double  one  on  the  mortgagor,  than  a  mere  imposition  of  his 
own  share  on  the  mortgagee. 


17 


The  question  as  to  the  part  to  be  taken  by  credits  in  a  system 
of  taxation  has  never  been  considered  by  us.  It  seems  to  have 
been  assumed  that  credit  was  as  much  the  subject  of  taxation 
and  as  able  to  pay  taxes  as  property  strictly  and  properly  so 
called,  and  there  seems  always  to  have  been  an  impression  that 
the  holder  of  securities,  the  person  whose  means  consisted  only 
of  the  promises  of  others  more  or  less  secured,  was  not  bearing 
his  fair  share  of  the  public  burdens,  unless  he  contributed  di- 
rectly therefrom  to  the  public  treasury. 

Now  I  think  this  a  very  great  mistake.  I  think  it  one  of 
those  great  fundamental  errors  that  must  necessarily  prevent 
the  harmonious  action  of  any  system  in  which  it  forms  a  part. 

And  this  error  arises  from  the  failure  to  distinguish  between 
property  and  credit. 

Property  or  capital  is  the  product  of  human  labor,  valuable 
for  future  use. 

It  is  this  property  and  the  services  of  men  which  Governme]  t 
wants,  and  which,  so  far  as  it  needs,  it  takes  by  taxation.  It 
needs  nothing  else ;  it  takes  nothing  else.  It  may  adopt  the 
facilities  afforded  by  credit  as  a  means  of  exchange,  but  when 
you  investigate  what  it  is  that  has  been  really  used  by  Govern- 
ment, you  will  always  find  that  it  is  either  the  actual  services 
or  work  and  labor  of  men,  or  the  product  of  their  work  and  labor. 

If  then  that  is  what  is  wanted  and  what  is  taken,  it  is  suf- 
ficiently evident  that  labor  and  capital,  and  labor  and  capital 
alone,  can  supply  such  demand.  In  other  words,  it  is  only  the 
capital  and  the  labor  of  a  country  that  can  be  taxed.  That 
capital  and  that  labor  must  be  so  used  as  to  produce  an  increase 
large  enough  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  Government,  and 
of  the  people.  Out  of  that  production,  i.  e.,  the  combined  pro- 
duction of  the  capital  and  labor,  taxes  must  be  paid ;  the  peo- 
ple must  live,  and  profits  must  be  made.  If  the  taxes  are  so 
large  that  there  is  nothing  left  for  profits  after  paying  the  mere 
expenses  of  living,  you  take  away  the  great  stimulus  to  hum  an 
exertion  ;  you  reduce  the  force  and  deteriorate  the  character  of 
the  people ;  and  if  they  are  so  large  as  greatly  to  reduce  the 
standard  of  comfortable  living,  either  the  government  is  over- 
thrown, or  the  people  are  reduced  to  a  lower  grade  of  civiliza- 
tion. 


18 


The  most  simple  and  direct  plan  for  filling  the  demands  of 
Government  would  be  by  directly  taking  the  thing  wanted,  i.  c, 
from  one  his  services,  from  another  the  food  to  feed  the  laborer 
while  performing  the  services  required  of  him. 

While  however  this  method  was  once  probably  in  very  general 
use,  and  while  it  is  in  some  phases  still  in  common  use,  (as  in 
work  on  highways)  yet,  on  the  whole,  society  has  long  since 
become  too  complex  for  the  working  of  so  elementary  a  system. 
We  now  levy  our  taxes  indirectly,  and  we  resort  to  the  strangest 
devices  for  hiding  from  ourselves  and  from  the  people  the  amount 
really  taken  for  taxes,  the  class  from  which  it  is  taken,  and 
the  amount  of  property  or  capital  which  contributes  towards  it. 

To  this  last  feature  of  our  self-imposed  blindness  I  wish  to 
call  your  attention. 

Let  us  take  as  an  illustration  a  supposed  railroad.  It  has  a 
bonded  debt  of  $1,000,000.  It  has  a  capital  stock  of  $1,000,000. 
It  is  really  worth  but  $1,000,000.  The  stock  having  been  is- 
sued, as  is  most  commonly  the  case,  without  any  money  really 
paid  in,  and  the  road  built  on  the  product  of  the  sale  of  the  bonds. 

On  our  present  system  the  State  taxes,  1st,  the  road  or  its 
capital  stock  ;  2d,  the  bonds.  Now,  can  any  one  fail  to  see  that 
this  is  double  taxation — that  the  effect  is  precisely  the  same 
as  if  double  the  rate  of  tax  had  been  levied  on  the  road  and 
none  on  the  bonds  ? 

The  road  must  earn  the  money  to  pay  both  taxes,  otherwise 
no  one  will  buy  the  bonds.  Regarding  it  as  an  isolated  trans- 
action, it  is  plain  enough  that  the  bonds  and  the  stock  repre- 
sent the  same  property,  and  that  that  property  neither  can  nor 
ought  to  pay  any  greater  tax  than  if  there  had  been  no  bonds. 
So  take  a  ship  or  steamboat.  A  man  having  $500,000,  builds 
a  steamboat ;  he  needs  and  borrows  $500,000  more  to  com- 
plete it,  giving  his  note  and  mortgage  on  the  ship,  for  the  sum 
borrowed. 

The  steamer  is  taxed  at  $1,000,000,  and  the  lender  is  taxed  for 
the  $500,000  loaned.  But  the  ship  is  still  the  only  properly, 
and  is  worth  but  $1,000,000.  The  lender  has  loaned  all  he 
had  ;  it  is  all  in  the  ship.  Is  it  not  clear,  that  the  income  made 
by  the  ship  must  be  derived,  as  well  the  tax  paid  by  the  lender, 
as  that  paid  by  the  owner  ?  Is  it  not  in  other  words,  a  double 
tax  on  the  ship? 


19 


Take  a  lot  of  land.  A  man  buys  a  lot  of  land  for  $1,000. 
He  only  pays  $500  on  it,  and  borrows  the  other  $500,  on  mort- 
gage. He  is  taxed  on  a  valuation  of  $1,000,  and  the  mortgagee 
is  taxed  for  his  $500  loaned.  The  land  however,  is  worth  but 
$1,000.  Is  it  not  clear  that  from  the  land  must  be  raised  the 
money  to  pay  the  tax  of  the  mortgagee,  as  well  as  the  mortgagor? 
And  in  all  these  cases,  is  it  not  clear,  that  had  the  owner  been 
under  no  necessity  of  borrowing,  the  tax  would  have  been 
only  on  the  value  of  the  railroad,  ship  or  lot,  while  the  moment 
another  person  contributes  by  way  of  loan,  the  tax  is  propor- 
tionately increased  ? 

If  too,  the  lender  had  contributed,  as  in  a  joint  enterprise  as 
owner,  the  tax  would  not  have  been  increased,  while  merely 
because  a  loan  is  preferred,  the  enterprise  is  burdened  with  this 
additional  tax. 

Now  these  isolated  instances  illustrate  the  whole  theory  of 
our  system  of  taxing  credits.  There  is  a  certain  amount  of 
property  in  the  State,  and  it  is  all  taxed. 

Various  obligations  are  then  given  and  taken  between  our 
citizens,  and  these  are  again  taxed ,  just  as  if  a  man  by  hav- 
ing a  mortgage  on  his  house,  in  any  way  increased  the  pro- 
perty of  the  community. 

Should  two  men  each  own  a  house,  and  then  each  give  the 
other  a  mortgage  on  his  house  for  the  same  amount,  and 
then  each  claim  that  he  owned  a  house  and  a  mortgage,  and 
that  thus  while  the  value  of  their  two  houses  was  but  $2000, 
the  value  of  their  two  houses  and  mortgages,  was  $3000 ; 
men  would  laugh  at  them  as  insane. 

Yet  it  is  precisely  this  and  nothing  else,  that  we  have  al- 
ways done  in  adopting  a  system  of  taxation  which  taxes 
credits  as  if  they  were  property. 

It  is  evident  enough  that  the  real  burden  of  this  taxation 
must  fall  on  the  owner  of  the  property.  From  that  proper ty 
tho  tax  must  be  paid. 

Interest  has  a  market  rate.  If  the  lender  cannot  get  that 
rate  in  a  certain  case  he  will  uot  lend,  and  for  that  rate  he  will 
lend  and  the  borrower  must  either  pay.  the  taxes,  "  eo  nomine" 
directly,  or  pay  it  indirectly,  by  an  increased  rate  of  interest. 
In  either  case,  it  acts  most  unjustly  against  the  borrower.  It 


20 


taxes  the  man  least  able  to  pay — not  the  capitalist  who  pays 
in  full  for  what  he  buys,  but  it  taxes  the  poor  yet  enterpris- 
ing and  energetic  man  of  business  who  is  compelled  to  bor- 
row a  part  of  the  purchase  money. 

In  common  justice,  in  common  fairness,  then,  should  not 
this  large  share  of  taxation  now  levied  nominally  on  lenders, 
but  really  paid  by  the  borrowers,  and  out  of  the  small  share 
of  the  property  of  the  State  owned  by  them,  be  equally  dis- 
tributed over  the  whole  property  of  the  State — as  well  that 
belonging  to  the  rich  few  who  have  no  need  to  borrow,  as 
over  that  of  the  needy  many,  to  whom  borrowing  is  a  stern 
necessity. 

For  this  is  the  necessary  effect  of  the  present  system. 

The  property  of  tiie  State  is  rated  at  a  certain  valuation, 
and  the  money  to  be  raised  assessed  upon  it  at  a  certain  per 
cent.  That  does  not  raise  enough.  To  obtain  the  balance 
then  we  assess  credits,  under  the  absurd  impression  that  we 
are  taxing  other  and  different  property.  The  real  effect  i3 
that  we  assess  all  the  portion  of  the  public  burdens  nominally 
assessed  on  credits,  on  that  portion  of  the  same  property  be- 
fore taxed,  that  is  owned  by  borrowers ;  and  borrowers  as  a 
class  have  to  pay,  and  do  pay  a  proportion  of  the  public  bur- 
dens that  properly  should  be  divided  among  all  the  owners 
of  property. 

This  rule  applies  to  ail  credits,  whatever  shape  they  may 
assume. 

It  however  bears  particularly  hard  upon  mortgages  be- 
cause of  the  facility  afforded  by  the  registry  laws  for  the  dis- 
covery of  mortgages  by  the  assessors. 

In  the  vast  majority  of  cases  the  holder  of  credits  or  of  the 
obligations  of  others  escapes  taxation,  because  his  property 
(so  called)  is  not  found  by  the  assessors. 

Mortgages  they  can  always  rind  if  they  take  the  trouble 
to  look. 

If  then  mortgages  are  taxed  they  must  raise  the  rate  of  in- 
terest in  order  to  get  the  market  rate  "  which  is  7  per  cent,  free 
from  taxes  "  or  they  will  not  loan  on  mortgage. 

Perfectly  good  securities  which  pay  that  rate  net,  are  plen- 
tiful in  the  market,  and  a  proposed  mortgagee  cannot  see  why 


21 


he  should  take  less.  He  will  not — He  does  not — If  you  still 
fur  . her  complicate  the  matter,  (as  in  this  State  we  have  done,) 
by  a  barbarous  usury  law,  you  but  add  to  the  difficulties  of 
the  borrower ,  for  he  must  have  a  still  higher  rate  to  com- 
pensate for  the  risk. 

This  is  theory — true — but  it  is  fact  and  experience  also. 

For  the  last  year  money  has  never  been  cheaper,  L  e.,  the 
rate  of  interest  lower  in  the  general  market.  But  it  is  within 
the  experience  of  every  real  estate  dealer  that  never  was  it 
so  difficult  to  borrow  on  mortgage. 

The  difficulty  is  that  if  the  mortgagee  pays  the  tax  he  gets 
less  than  the  market  rate  of  interest,  and  if  the  mortgagor 
agrees  to  pav  it,  (as  he  must  if  it  is  paid  at  all,)  the  mort- 
gagee has  to  run  the  risk  of  a  defense  of  usury. 

Now  what  is  the  actual  effect  of  this  condition  of  things  on 
the  real  estate  interest  ? 

Why  the  usual  one  of  want  of  capital  on  all  enterprises. 

Everything  requiring  the  expenditure  of  labor  and  capital 
to  improve  it  is  brought  to  a  halt.  Streets  cannot  be  opened, 
or  streets  or  lots  graded  or  paved,  or  prepared  for  building, 
nor  can  buildings  be  erected  because  the  circulation  of  money 
— the  life  blood  of  commerce  or  business,  is  stopped  in  this 
direction  as  absolutely  as  if  hemmed  in  by  an  iron  wall. 

A  repeal  of  the  usury  law  would  be  some  relief.  It  would 
enable  you  to  borrow,  tho'  on  more  onerous  terms  than  more 
fortunate  branches  of  industry  not  compelled  to  place  on  the 
registry  books  a  record  of  its  transactions  ;  but  nothing  can 
do  you  simple  justice  but  the  repeal  of  these  laws  taxing  credits 
or  taxing  mortgages,  which,  while  they  appear  and  pretend 
to  make  your  creditors  assume  their  share  of  the  public  bur- 
dens, are  really  laying  upon  your  shoulders  a  burden  heavier 
than  they  can  bear. 


On  the  subject  of  Appropriate  Names  for  the  New  Avenues 
and  Public  Places  on  the  West  Side,  Mr.  A.  W.  Colgate 
then  spoke  as  follows : 


22 


It  is  quite  time  that  something  definite  was  done  with  ref- 
erence to  the  selection  of  permanent  and  appropriate  names 
for  the  new  avenues,  streets,  and  other  public  places  recently 
laid  out  by  the  Park  Commissioners  on  the  West  Sid©.  As  no 
one  has  yet  felt  sufficient  interest  in  this  matter  to  take  the 
initiative,  it  naturally  falls  within  the  duties  of  this  Associa- 
tion, to  urge  the  immediate  adoption  of  such  a  system  of 
nomenclature,  as  will  be  worthy  of  the  region  in  question. 
There  are  altogether,  between  Fifty-ninth  and  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty-fifth  streets,  some  twenty-five  avenues  or  places  in 
want  of  names,  and  they  are  all  so  located  with  reference  to 
the  previously  existing  streets  and  avenues,  that  the  usual  nu- 
merical designations  cannot  be  given,  without  upsetting  the  whole 
map,  and  leading  to  endless  confusion.  In  the  meantime  the 
neighboring  property  is  being  agitated,  the  new  avenues  are  ac- 
quiring a  certain  importance,  and  the  question  comes  up,  what 
are  we  going  to  call  them  ?  For  as  long  as  they  have  no  desig- 
nation, thousands  of  West  Side  lots  are  as  hopelessly  at  sea,  as 
ships  without  chart  or  compass.  We  all  know  how  it  is,  that 
any  name,  good  or  bad,  once  fastened  to  a  locality  is  pretty  sure 
to  stick.  It  passes  readily  into  conversation,  appears  in  print, 
and  soon  finds  its  way,  not  only  into  literature,  but  also  into 
titles,  mortgages,  and  other  instruments  pertaining  to  the  trans- 
fer of  real  estate.  In  this  manner,  the  name  of  our  own  Asso- 
ciation has  already  acquired  considerable  prominence,  and  is 
at  once  identified  with  everything  that  relates  to  the  welfare  of 
the  West  Side.  We  should  also  remember  that  good  names 
cost  no  more  than  bad  ones,  and  that  the  only  way  to  avoid  the 
bad,  is  to  be  beforehand  with  the  good.  The  present  inhabi- 
tants, such  as  they  are  of  the  West  Side,  are  not  likely  to  give 
any  names  that  property  owners  would  care  to  see  adopted, 
and  yet  they  may  unconsciously  christen  many  of  the  main 
streets,  with  names  not  easily  got  rid  of.  Witness  in  London 
— Eotten  row,  Hog  lane,  Crab-tree  street,  Peacock  street,  Shoe 
lane,  and  others  equally  as  absurd,  which  had  there  origin  in 
this  way,  and  which  generally  retain  their  homely  names,  even 
though  their  neighborhoods  become  aristocratic.  The  present 
numerical  system  of  names,  though  not  without  some  advan- 
tages, indicates  a  barrenness  of  invention  that  is  unparalleled  in 


23 


any  European  City.  Even  our  great  Park  has  no  real  name, 
and  is  merely  described  by  an  adjective,  which  defines  its  posi- 
tion in  the  centre  of  the  island — used  originally  to  distinguish 
it  from  Jones'  Wood,  which  lay  on  one  side,  at  the  time  when 
the  capacities  of  the  two  were  under  discussion.  Such  names 
as  New  avenue,  or  Central  avenue,  or  Grand  Central  avenue, 
or  Central  avenue  boulevard,  are  not  names,  strictly  speaking, 
and  can  hardly  even  be  called  definitions.  They  suggest  no 
ideas  to  the  mind,  and  have  not  enough  individuality  to  be 
distinguished  from  each  other,  and  it  will  really  be  too  bad  if 
the  genius  of  the  present  generation  cannot  devise  something 
a  little  better. 

In  the  Central  Park  report  for  1862,  the  subject  of  names 
for  the  different  gates  of  the  park  was  embodied  in  the  form 
of  a  committee  report,  the  substance  of  which  was  that  a  city 
like  New  York,  under  a  republican  form  of  government,  should 
not  follow  the  European  fashion  of  attaching  to  public  places 
the  names  either  of  military  or  civil  leaders,  or  of  titled  fami- 
lies, or  celebrated  victories,  or  anything,  in  short,  which 
would  seem  to  give  too  great  importance  to  individual  or  par- 
tisan interests,  or  jar  with  our  popular  notions  of  liberty  and 
equality.  All  this  is  well,  and  yet  we  do  not  see  why  it  is  not 
both  popular  and  patriotic  to  perpetuate  the  names  of  those 
who  have  done  the  State  any  real  service,  or  whose  achieve- 
ments in  science,  or  letters,  or  art  have  reflected  lustre  on 
their  native  city.  Nor  can  it  be  said,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
the  plan  substituted — that  of  naming  the  gates  after  the  vari- 
ous classes  and  occupations  of  the  people — has  been  altogeth- 
er satisfactory,  although  the  fact  that  the  Park  is  a  place  of 
recreation  gives  some  plausibility  to  the  idea ;  but  the  names 
somehow  sound  oddly,  and  are  rarely,  if  ever,  used  ;  and  until 
the  gates  are  ornamented  with  statuary  and  other  decorations 
which  will  in  a  measure  account  for  the  titles,  people  will 
wonder  why  they  were  chosen.  The  "  Scholar's  Gate,"  for 
example,  is  already  supplied  with  a  bust  of  Humboldt,  and 
when  further  embellished  with  statutes  of  other  famous  men 
of  learning,  will  perhaps  have  a  fair  title  to  its  name.  Now, 
no  reason  should  suffice  for  the  adoption  of  a  name  not  in- 
trinsically good,  or  that  would  be  likely  to  cause  confusion, 


24 


and  rather  than  advocate  any  regular  system  of  nomenclature, 
it  seems  preferable  to  avail  ourselves  of  such  names  as  are 
euphonious  and  elegant  in  themselves,  and  at  the  same  time 
distinctive  an d  characteristic.  For  instance,  the  word  "  Knick- 
erbocker "  is  a  characteristic  New  York  name,  clear  and  dis- 
tinctive, and  not  easily  to  be  mistaken  for  anything  else. 
Bequeathed  to  us  by  Irving  himself,  it  contains  the  very  es- 
sence of  the  old  Dutch  life  and  character.  It  always  has  been 
and  always  will  be  identified  with  the  city.  A  good  name 
often  serves  for  an  introduction,  and  "  Knickerbocker  avenue," 
or  "  Knickerbocker  Terrace,"  would  soon  acquire  a  distinct- 
iveness, if  not  a  value,  in  the  public  mind.  So  with  the  name 
'  St.  Nicholas,"  already  appropriated  for  a  new  avenue,  and 
a  better  one  could  not  have  been  chosen. 

The  experience  of  most  cities  in  this  matter  shows  that 
there  are  but  three  or  four  classes  of  names  ordinarily  used  : 

L.  Historical,  the  names  of  famous  men,  who  have  been  in 
sjoie  way  connected  with  the  City  or  State,  and  whose  ser- 
vices have  been  of  a  general  and  not  of  a  partisan  nature. 

2.  Geographical,  or  names  suggested  by  the  topography  of 
the  place,  or  some  local  peculiarity,  such  as  a  hill,  or  a  view, 
or  the  junction  of  several  leading  avenues,  or  perhaps  the 
name  of  a  suburb  to  which  an  avenue  serves  as  an  approach. 

3.  Proprietary  names,  or  name3  of  the  original  holders  of 
large  parcels  of  real  estate  through  or  near  which  the  streets 
run. 

All  these  seem  entitled  to  a  certain  consideration,  and  would 
perhaps  supply  names  enough  for  all  our  new  avenues.  On  a 
map  and  schedule  which  has  been  prepared  to  accompany  this 
paper,  some  of  the  historical  names  suggested  are  :  Schuyler 
place,  Yerplanck  avenue,  Stuyvesant  avenue,  Putnam  place, 
Rensselaer  avenue,  Netherland  avenue,  Montgomery  terrace, 
Holland  Avenue,  &c.  Among  the  geographical  names  are 
Fordham  avenue  and  Westchester  avenue,  leading  northward 
in  the  direction  of  those  suburbs  ;  Trinity  road,  passing  Trinity 
Church  Cemetery  ;  Claremont  avenue,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient 
resort  of  that  name,  near  Manhattanville  ;  and  Albany  road,  the 
portion  of  the  old  Post  road  to  Albany  left  open.  The  elevated 
avenue  which  runs  along  the  upper  side  of  the  Morningside 


25 


Park,  and  overlooks  its  entire  extent,  would  naturally  be  called 
Morningside  terrace,  while  that  which  follows  the  picturesque 
windings  of  the  Riverside  Park,  overlooking  the  Hudson,  could 
be  called  in  its  different  sections,  Hudson  terrace,  Belvidere  ter- 
race, Sunset  hill,  Highview  terrace,  and  so  on.  At  the  junction 
of  the  Avenue  St.  Nicholas  with  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fifth 
street  several  important  lines  of  travel  converge  and  a  small 
open  space  appears  on  the  map  which  will  in  time  become  an 
important  geographical  center,  such  as  Madison  Square  is  now. 
This  it  is  proposed  to  call  Manhattan  Corners.  The  name 
Blooinin^dale  (which  is  only  an  old  Dutch  word  in  an  English 
dress)  is  something  too  good  to  be  lost,  and  might  appropriately 
be  given  to  the  boulevard  itself,  at  least  in  its  first  section ;  and 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  names  of  Harlem  lane  and  Macomb's 
lane,  so  well  known  to  us  all,  might  not  also  be  retained.  North 
of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  street  there  are  many  such 
names,  some  of  which  like  Kingsbridge  road,  Fort  George,  <fec, 
have  even  a  historical  value,  but  as  we  are  only  at  present  dis- 
cussing the  region  south  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  street 
we  cannot  enumerate  them  here.  The  names  of  the  original 
landholders  afford  the  largest  and  perhaps  the  best  selection  of 
all,  and  precedent  is  largely  in  favor  of  their  adoption,  es- 
pecially as  many  of  these  old  families  were  distinguished  in  the 
early  history  of  the  city.  It  is  true,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
many  of  them  were  only  farmers  or  market  gardeners,  and  it 
might  seem  to  be  giving  too  great  prominence  to  individual  in- 
terests were  this  order  of  names  generally  adopted.  Yet  there 
are  certainly  some  that  could  be  selected  without  violating 
either  taste  or  propriety,  and  if  in  this  way  the  city  secures  a 
few  really  good  names,  few  will  inquire,  twenty  years  hence, 
why  they  were  chosen,  any  more  than  one  now  thinks  about 
Bleecker  or  Houston  streets.  Examples  of  this  class  are :  De- 
peyster,  Livingston,  Jauncey,  Somerindyke,  Hamilton,  Clenden- 
ning,  Delancey,  Apthorpe,  and  others  equally  well  sounding 
and  well  known.  The  name  "Murray  Hill,''  with  which  every 
one  is  familiar,  is  an  example  of  this  kind,  and  though  it  never 
appears  on  the  map,  is  permanently  identified  with  the  locality. 
On  the  map  of  the  City  of  London  will  be  found  almost  as 
many  proper  names  as  are  contained  in  the  whole  history  of 


26 


England.  The  street  directory  is,  in  fact,  a  perfect  epitome  of 
the  social,  ecclesiastical,  and  commercial  history  of  the  metro- 
polis during  all  the  centuries  of  its  growth.  The  history  of 
New  York  does  not  go  quite  so  far  back,  but  we  can  learn  a  use- 
ful lesson  from  London  in  thus  perpetuating  our  ancestral  names. 

Perhaps  it  might  enforce  the  same  lesson  to  glance  at  the 
map  of  our  own  Central  Park.  Was  there  ever  such  an  exten- 
sive and  so  frequented  a  region  so  utterly  devoid  of  names  ? 
Suppose  you  want  a  friend  to  meet  you  at  some  point  in  the 
Park,  how  are  you  going  to  describe  it  ?  You  are  pinned  down 
to  the  Terrace,  or  the  Mt.  St.  Vincent  Restaurant.  There  is 
nothing  else.  You  see  on  the  map  "  the  land,"  "  the  green,"  "  the 
lake,"  the  "great  hill,"  several  "  circles,"  the  "  drive,"  the  "ride," 
bridges  and  arches  without  number,  hills  and  streams,  woods 
and  valleys,  but  not  one  of  them  with  any  kind  of  name  by  which 
it  can  be  described  or  designated. 

As  already  mentioned,  it  would  be  very  unwise,  if  not  im- 
practicable, to  change  any  names  that  are  already  on  the  map  and 
have  come  into  general  use ;  and  yet  with  regard  to  the  cross 
streets  north  of  One  Hundredth  street,  the  names  get  to  be  so 
long  aud  unwieldy,  that  perhaps  a  modification  might  be  made. 
If  we  simply  drop  the  Hundred  they  will  be  confounded  with 
the  numerical  streets  lower  down,  but  if  at  the  same  time  they 
were  called  "  way  "  or  "  road  "  instead  of  street,  the  result  might 
be  easier  to  handle  than  at  present,  while  no  confusion  of  num- 
ber could  arise.  For  "way"  wo  have  a  Dutch  precedent  in 
the  word  "  weg,"  and  even  in  Broadway  itself.  Thus  we  should 
have  Seventeenth  way  and  Forty-third  way,  instead  of  One 
Hundred  and  Seventeenth  street,  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  street,  or  else  Tenth  road  and  Thirty-first  road  instead  of 
One  Hundred  and  Tenth  street  and  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
first  street.  Still  another  method  would  be  to  substitute  the 
word  "North"  for  the  "Hundred"  which  instead  of  One  Hun- 
dred and  Fourteenth  street  would  give  us  North  Fourteenth 
street,  just  as  we  now  have  East  or  West  Fourteenth  street.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  the  permanent  adoption  of  a  good  system 
of  names  throughout  the  West  Side,  and  the  publication  of  maps 
to  illustrate  them  would  aid  greatly  in  bringing  the  adjacent 
property  into  notice  and  would  give  it  a  locality  and  even  a 
value  which  it  does  not  now  possess. 


27 


The  position  of  the  West  Side  Association  in  regard  to  mat- 
ters of  this  kind,  is  such  that  whatever  system  of  nomenclature 
is  favorably  reported  by  their  Executive  Committee  will  no  doubt 
be  favorably  received  by  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  and 
thus  soon  find  its  way  into  the  maps,  and  so  become  part  and 
parcel  of  the  city. 

SCHEDULE  OF  PROPOSED  NAMES  FOR  THE  NEW  AVENUES  AND 
PUBLIC  PLACES  ON  THE  WEST  SIDE. 

Boulevard,  from  Fifty-ninth  to  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  street 
— "  Bloomingdale  boulevard." 

Boulevard,  from  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  to  One  Hundred 
and  Fifty-fifth  street — "Manhattan  boulevard." 

New  Avenue  west  of  boulevard,  to  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
seventh  street — "  Claremont  Avenue." 

West  side  of  Morning-side  Park,  from  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-second  street — "  Morningside  terrace." 

Extension  of  Sixth  Avenue,  north  of  Central  Park  to  Harlem 
Biver — "  Fordham  Avenue." 

Extension  of  Seventh  Avenue,  north  of  Central  Park  to  Har- 
lem Biver — "  Westchester  Avenue." 

Junction  of  Avenue  St.  Nicholas,  with  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-fifth  street — "Manhattan  Corners." 

Avenue  facing  Biverside  Park,  Seventy-second  to  Seventy- 
ninth  street — "  Hudson  terrace." 

Avenue  facing  Biverside  Park,  Seventy-ninth  to  Eighty-fifth 
street — "  Sunset  terrace,"  or  ("  Sunset  Hill.") 

Avenue  facing  Biverside  Park,  Eighty-fifth  to  Eighty-eighth 
street — "  Highview  terrace." 

Avenue  facing  Biverside  Park,  Eighty-eighth  to  Ninety-sixth 
street — "  Livingston  terrace." 

Avenue  facing  Biverside  Park,  Ninety-sixth  to  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-seventh  street — "  Belvidere  terrace." 

North  end  of  Biverside  Park,  descent  from  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-seventh  to  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth  street  — 
"  Belvidere  Hill." 

Line  of  old  Bloomingdale  road,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
seventh  to  One  Hundred  and  Thirty-third  street — "Holland 
place." 


28 


Line  of  old  Bloomingclale  road,  One  Hundred  and  Thirty- 
seventh  to  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  street — "Albany 
road." 

New  Avenue,  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Avenues,  from  One 
Hundred  to  One  Hundred  and  Twenty  fourth  street — "  Knick- 
erbocker Avenue." 

New  Avenue,  next  west  of  above,  from  One  Hundred  and 
Fourteenth  to  One  Hundred  and  Forty-fifth  street—  "  Stuy- 
vesant  Avenue." 

Old  line  of  Ninth  Avenue,  from  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 
to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  street — "Rensselaer  Avenue," 
(or  "  Trinity  road.") 

Avenue  next  east  of  Avenue  St.  Nicholas,  from  One  Hundred 
and  Thirty-seventh  to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  street — 
"  Verplanck  Avenue,"  (or  "  Montgomery  Avenue.") 

Avenue  next  east  of  above,  from  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
second  to  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-fifth  street  (low  ground) — 
"Netherland  Avenue." 

East  side  of  Mount  Morris  Square — "  Schuyler  place." 

West  side  of  Mount  Morris  Square — "Putnam  place." 

One  Hundred  and  First  street — "First  way." 

One  Hundred  and  Second  street — "  Second  way,"  &c. 

Macomb's  lane — To  be  retained.  . 

Harlem  lane  to  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-fourth  street — To 
be  retained. 


At  the  close  of  Mr.  Colgate's  address,  the  President  stated, 
that  it  was  important  to  consider  the  subject  maturely,  and  in 
advance,  lest  names  not  well  selected,  should  attach  to  these 
new  names  and  places,  which  it  would  not  be  easy  to  get  rid 
of.  The  Riverside  Park  was  a  name  so  naturally  suggested 
for  that  park,  that  it  might  almost  be  said  to  have  named 
itself.  The  Morningside  park,  was  a  name  suggested  in  a 
conversation  by  Mr.  Andrew  H.  Green,  at  once  natural,  sim- 
ple, poetical  and  expressive.  It  soon  found  its  way  into  the 
papers,  and  to  the  public,  and  has  been  universally  adopted. 


29  N 

We  must  take  care  lest  names  not  so  appropriate  as  this 
become  started  and  adhere  to  these  new  and  unnamed  places. 

The  subject  of  Rapid  Transit,  was  then  introduced  by  the 
President,  as  follows : 

Gentlemen  : 

On  this  topic  I  shall  not  entrench  upon  the  time  of  other 
gentlemen  who  are  ready  to  address  you,  longer  than  to  lay 
down  two  or  three  general  principles.  Upon  the  vital  abso- 
lute and  immediate  necessity  of  some  scheme  of  steam  transit, 
we  have  but  one  feeliag.  On  the  question,  by  what  means  shall 
it  be  built,  in  the  inability  of  private  capital  thus  far  to  grasp 
it,  I  suppose  we  will  be  agreed  that  in  some  form  it  would  be 
just  application  of  the  public  credit  to  aid  in  its  construction. 
As  to  the  route,  there  should  be  a  central  route  down  town, 
branching  and  dividing  so  as  to  pass  up  town,  on  each  side 
of  the  park,  as  far  as  the  Harlem  River.  Now  down  town, 
this  central  route  must  be  on  or  near  Broadway,  and  this 
must  determine  the  plan.  If  the  route  be  on  Broadway,  then 
the  underground  plan  is  one  well  adapted  to  Broadway.  If 
the  route  be  on  one  side  of  Broadway,  near  to  it,  and  parallel 
with  it,  then  it  would  be  a  choice  between  a  viaduct  or  an 
underground,  and  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  the  viaduct 
come  up  to  the  top.  So  after  ail  this  seems  to  be  the  ques- 
tion, shall  the  down  town  central  route  be  on  Broadway,  or 
near  by  it ;  with  this  singular  condition  to  the  question,  that 
one  excludes  the  other,  for  in  competition  with  the  Broadway 
route,  the  side  route  would  be  nowhere,  and  no  one  will 
build  the  side  route  while  the  Broadway  route  remains  possi- 
ble. Shall  the  route  be  on  Broadway  ?  This  is  to  be  deter- 
mined by  the  public  interests,  and  the  interests  of  the  Broad- 
way property  owners.  As  to  the  public  interests,  they  are  in 
the  habit  of  using  Broadway  as  a  main  thoroughfare,  and 
would  go  for  increasing  its  capacity  to  accomodate  travel. 
As  to  the  Broadway  property  owners,  many  of  them  are  in 
favor  of  it,  many  others  cannot  get  past  the  fear  of  the  tem- 
porary inconvenience  its  construction  would  occasion,  to  con- 


80 


sider  it  on  general  principles.  I  would  like  to  justify  by  an  argu- 
ment, those  far  sighted  Broadway  owners,  who  believe  that 
their  property  would  be  benefited  by  doubling  and  tripling  its 
traveling  accomodations,  and  concentrating  everything  on  its 
line. 

There  is  an  ecessity  for  comprehensive  system  in  the  routes 
proposed  for  Rapid  Transit  in  New-York.  The  rudimentary 
idea  is  to  facilitate  transit  from  down  town,  the  business 
section  to  up  town,  the  residence  section ;  but  this  is  an 
incomplete  view.  It  is  evident  that  the  measures  will  naturally 
work  into  a  system,  from  the  fact  that  the  surface  railroads, 
which  are  uniform  in  plan,  have  run  into  a  system  by 
concentrating  into  a  common  meeting  point  in  front  of  the 
Astor  House.  From  this  point,  they  start  for  the  up  town 
residence  sections,  and  at  this  point,  there  is  a  rude  at- 
tempt to  connect  the  different  down  town  business  sections, 
and  the  points  of  approach  to  the  city,  at  the  ferries  and 
steamboat  landings.  In  respect  to  steam  railroads,  this  sys- 
tem should  be  considered  in  advance,  and  routes  made  to  con- 
form to  its  requirements. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  city  transit  is  to  be  reached 
by  considering  the  geographical  form  and  situation  of  the 
island,  the  points  of  access  to  and  departure  from  it,  its  nat- 
ural thoroughfares,  and  the  daily  migrations  of  its  inhabitants. 
It  is  quite  possible  to  find  a  solution  that  will  include  all  that 
is  valuable  in  the  various  plans  and  diverse  routes  that  have 
been  presented  to  the  public  attention. 

The  island  is  long  and  narrow  ;  its  lower  section  is  occupied 
by  business,  and  its  central  and  upper  sections  by  residences. 
Beyond  the  built-up  portions  of  the  island,  to  the  north,  are 
vacant  areas,  which  furnish  the  best  natural  advantages  for 
the  future  sites  of  fine  residence  sections,  and  broad  business 
sections  of  the  metropolis.  These  sections,  the  most  valuable 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  are  unoccupied,  because  they  re- 
main inaccessible.  Means  of  rapid  transit  to  every  part  of 
the  suburbs  of  New  York  in  every  direction,  for  thirty  miles, 
are  multiplying  as  fast  as  the  population  demands  them.  The 
upper  portion  of  the  island  alone  remains  inaccessible,  and 
it  is  now  practically  more  than  thirty  miles  from  the  business 
sections  of  the  city. 


31 


The  owners  of  this  property  are  nevertheless  taxed  as  a  part 
of  the  cit}T,  and  the  property,  thus  unjustly  neglected,  pays  in 
taxes  (without  any  reciprocal  benefit),  every  year,  enough  to 
build  5,  steam  railroad. 

It  is  therefore  the  first  consideration  of  a  system  of  steam 
transit,  that  the  road  should  run  the  whole  length  of  the  island. 
The  northern  end  would  then  be  filled  with  population,  and 
trade  and  value  in  every  portion  greatly  benefited. 

Second.  The  lower  miles'  length  of  the  island  is  its  great 
location  for  heavy  business,  and  the  principal  point  of  access 
and  departure  for  foreign  travel,  for  travel  from  Long  and 
Staten  Islands,  and  for  travel  south  and  southwest.  This 
travel  approaches  now  by  ferries,  and  by  numberless  River 
Steamboats,  striking  the  shore  from  Chambers  street  on  the 
North  river,  round  by  the  Battery,  to  Catharine  street  on 
the  East  river.  It  will,  before  long,  have  the  additional  ave- 
nues of  approach  furnished  by  the  East  River  Bridge  from 
Brooklyn,  the  tunnel  from  Jersey  City,  and  the  railroad  across 
the  Bay  from  Staten  Island. 

The  city  is  also  approached  on  the  north  by  railroads  from 
the  east,  north,  and  west,  coming  in  by  the  Fourth  Avenue  to 
Forty-second  street,  and  by  the  Twelfth  and  Eleventh  Avenues 
to  Thirtieth  street.  Steamers  from  the  East  and  foreign 
steamers  will,  in  the  future,  land  passengers  along  the  East 
and  Harlem  river  shore  ;  and  more  frequent  ferries  and  steam- 
boat lines  on  the  North  river  will  bring  passengers  to  the 
North  river  shore. 

Travelers  thus  approaching  and  departing  from  the  city 
need  to  be  accommodated  by  inter-mural  transit,  so  as  to 
reach  the  centers  of  business  and  the  residence  sections  ;  and 
also,  so  as  to  reach  opposite  and  different  points  of  departure. 
This  is  the  second  consideration  of  a  system  of  steam  transit. 

Third.  The  island  is  now  occupied  by  business  at  its  lower 
section ;  the  Park  may  now  be  regarded  as  its  center,  and  in 
the  future,  the  business  center  may  advance  along  the  line  of 
Broadway. 

The  residence  section  lies  now  principally  between  Fourth 
and  Sixth  avenues,  from  Fourteenth  street  to  the  Central  Park, 
for  the  residences  which  cost  the  most ;  with  well  defined  sec- 


32 


tions,  east  of  of  the  Fourth  avenue  and  west  of  the  Sixth  ave- 
nue, for  the  residences  which  cost  less,  and  which  accom- 
modate more  than  one  family  in  a  single  house.  Further 
northward,  abreast  of  the  Central  Park,  the  division  -of  the 
residence  sections  into  the  East  and  the  West  side  is  more 
distinctly  marked.  From  these  several  residence  sections  to 
the  down-town  business  sections  is  the  daily  migration  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  these  are  the  natural  lines  of  travel.  If  the 
main  thoroughfares  were  opened  on  these  natural  lines  there 
would  be,  in  addition  to  Broadway  for  the  central  thorough- 
fare, one  for  East  side  travel,  by  continuing  Third  avenue 
southerly  from  Fourth  street  to  the  head  of  Center  street,  at 
Broome  street ;  and  the  other,  for  the  West  side  travel,  by 
continuing  Sixth  avenue  from  Carmine  street  to  the  head  of 
West  Broadway,  at  Canal  street;  and  extending  both  south- 
wardly to  the  Battery.  This  is  the  third  consideration  for  a 
system  of  steam  transit. 

Now  in  a  comprehensive  system  there  are  three  central 
points  to  be  regarded  as  fixed — 1st,  The  Battery ;  2d,  the  Park ; 
and  3d,  the  Railroad  Depot  at  Fourth  avenue  and  Forty-second 
street. 

The  Battery,  as  the  extreme  southern  salient  point  of  the 
Island,  must  always  remain  a  principal  point  of  approach  from 
across  the  Bay  ;  and  from  its  central  situation,  in  respect  to  the 
ferries  and  lower  steamboat  landings,  it  must  also  remain  a 
prominent  and  advantageous  distributing  point. 

The  Park  is  now  the  down-town  terminus  of  all  the  city 
surface  railroads.  It  will  be  the  landing  place  of  the  Brook- 
lyn bridge,  and  will  be  the  best  place  for  the  debouchment  of 
the  tunnel  to  Jersey  City,  when  one  shall  be  made.  The  space 
in  front  of  the  Astor  House  is  too  crowded.  That  between  the 
City  Hall  and  the  Post  Office  is  to  be  the  future  down-town 
center  for  city  transit,  surface  and  underground.  A  sufficient 
area  underground  could  be  excavated  and  vaulted  over,  to 
which  passengers  could  arrive  by  tunnel  from  Jersey  City,  and 
thence  communicate  with  all  the  underground  roads  that 
might  be  comstructed.  Over  this,  under  a  sufficient  colonaded 
canopy,  might  be  the  station  for  all  the  surface  roads  and 
for  the  road  over  the  Brooklyn  bridge  and  by  ample  stair- 


33 


cases,  all  these  modes  of  communication  from  every  direc- 
tion could  be  brought  in  close  contact.  The  tunnel  or  bridge 
to  Jersey  City  and  the  bridge  to  Brooklyn,  will,  at  some  future 
day,  be  the  avenues  for  steam  transit  to  reach  the  shores  of 
New  Jersey,  Staten  Island  and  Long  Island,  around  the  Bay, 
when  the  City  extends  and  includes  these  regions.  From  the 
Park  an  underground  road  should  pass  down  Broadway  to  the 
Battery,  and  up  Broadway  and  the  Bloomingdale  Boulevard 
to  Manhattanville,  with  a  branch,  diverging  at  Union  Square 
or  Madison  Square  and  passing  up  Madison  Avenue  or  Fourth 
Avenue  to  Harlem  Kiver,  passing  the  Union  Depot  at  Forty- 
second  street. 

Around  the  river  border  of  the  City  there  should  be  an  ele- 
vated road,  in  connection  with  such  new  system  of  wharves 
and  docks  as  may  be  adopted,  extending  the  whole  length  and 
circuit  of  the  Island.  These  roads  should  be  elevated  above 
the  street  level,  and  should  be  reached  by  staircases  from 
every  ferry  house,  pier  and  steamboat  landing. 

There  should  also  be  a  means  of  rapid  transit  along  the  line 
of  Greenwich  street  to  the  Ninth  avenue,  as  a  line  midway  be- 
tween the  North  River  and  Broadway  ;  and  another  along  the 
line  of  Third  avenue  and  Center  street,  Nassau  and  Broad 
streets,  each  extending  southerly  to  the  Battery.  These  should 
be  either  underground  or  elevated  roads.  The  various  plans 
of  running  upon  tracks  supported  by  masonry,  or  by  columns 
and  girders,  over  and  across  the  carriage  way  and  propelled  by 
endless  ropes,  or  some  other  adaptation  of  steam  power,  would 
be  economical,  serviceable  and  well  adapted  for  these  routes. 
The  Greenwich  street  elevated  road  has  been  very  much  re- 
stricted in  its  plan,  and  its  failure  is  not  a  sufficient  ground  for 
condemning  all  plans  of  that  sort. 

A  cross  road  from  river  to  river  should  be  made  at  Forty- 
second  street,  connecting  with  the  Union  Depot  at  Fourth 
Avenue;  at  Twenty-third  street;  and  perhaps  at  other  points. 
But  as  these  distances  are  short,  surface  roads  might,  at  pres- 
ent, answer  the  needs  of  travel. 

Upon  this  comprehensive  system  of  routes,  thus  generally 
indicated,  accommodation  would  be  afforded  for  suburban  and 
city  travel.    A  person  who  arrived  at  the  city  by  ferry  or  steam- 


34 


boat,  and  wished  to  depart  by  any  other  ferry  or  steamboat, 
would  find  a  river  border  road  going  directly  there.  If  he 
wished  to  go  to  the  Hudson  River  or  Harlem  Railroad  depot, 
or  to  seek  an  hotel  or  a  private  residence,  he  could  go  to  the 
Battery,  where  he  would  find  the  starting  point  of  a  road  lead- 
ing up  Greenwich  street  and  the  Ninth  avenue,  of  another 
leading  up  Broadway,  and  of  a  third  leading  up  Center  street 
and  Third  avenue  :  or  he  could  go  up  to  the  cross  road  at  42d 
street,  and  by  it  intersect  any  of  the  main  longitudinal  lines. 
This  would  take  him  within  one-fourth  of  a  mile  of  any  point 
on  the  Island,  except  the  section  east  of  the  Bowery,  that  he 
wished  to  reach.  Passengers  arriving  in  the  City  at  Fourth 
Avenue  and  Forty-second  street  could  go  at  once  to  the  Central 
depot  at  the  Park,  or  to  the  Battery,  and  thence  to  their  des- 
tinations, if  down  town,  or  to  any  of  the  points  of  steamboat 
or  ferry  departure  :  or,  b}'  taking  the  cross  roads  at  Forty-second 
street,  intersect  any  of  the  five  main  longifcudinallines  of  which 
mention  has  been  made.  At  the  various  intersections  proper 
connections  should  be  made  between  the  underground,  ele- 
vated and  surface  roads,  and  a  great  advantage  would  result 
from  a  direct  elevated  or  underground  communication,  from 
the  Park  to  the  Fulton  ferry  on  the  East  River  side,  and  to 
the  Jersey  City  ferry  on  the  North  River  side. 

This  system  of  routes  would  comprehend  the  needs  of  city 
travel  from  the  residence  sections  to  the  business  portion  of 
the  city,  and  accommodate  those  who  entered  the  city,  or  de- 
parted from  it,  by  railroad  or  steamboat. 

The  system  that  thus  accommodated  travel  would  also  facili- 
tate the  movements  of  freight  and  goods,  from  all  points  of 
water  and  railroad  shipment  to  all  points  of  mercantile  or 
retail  distribution. 

It  is  imposible  to  give  a  full  consideration  to  this  subject, 
without  the  irresistible  conviction  that  these  plans  and  routes 
must  be  combined  in  a  system  that  shall  meet  the  public  re- 
quirements ;  and  that  the  outlines  of  such  a  system,  as  here 
generally  indicated,  begin  to  appear. 


The  Secretary,  Mr.  James  F.  Euggles,  then  presented  the 
following 

KEPOKT  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

To  the  West  Side  Association  : 

The  Executive  Committee,  to  whom  it  was  referred  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Association,  on  22d  December,  1870,  to  report 
upon  the  subject  of  the  resolutions  presented  at  that  meeting, 
beg  leave  respectfully  to  report  to  the  Association  for  their 
consideration  the  following  resolutions,  as  expressive  of  the 
substance  of  the  resolutions  referred  to  them. 

First.  Resolved.  That  the  public  interests,  as  well  as  the 
interests  of  the  land  owners  and  taxpayers,  require  the  speedy 
prosecution  and  completion  of  the  public  works  on  the  West 
Side ;  that  the  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and 
Assessment  on  the  Riverside  Park,  who  were  appointed  in 
September,  1868  :  the  work  on  that  Park  and  the  Morningside 
Park,  and  the  grading  of  the  Avenues  and  Streets,  should  be 
proceeded  with  without  an}*  further  or  needless  delays,  so  as 
to  make  the  property  on  the  West  Side  ready  for  occupation. 

Second.  Resolved.  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  Resolu- 
tion, with  the  printed  proceedings  of  our  meetings,  be  commu- 
nicated to  the  Mayor,  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  the 
Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  and  the  Counsel  to  the  Cor- 
poration, with  a  request  for  their  cooperation  in  accomplish- 
in  g  these  results. 

Third.  Resolved.  That  rapid  steam  transit  through  the 
length  of  the  Island  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  inhab- 
itants thereof ;  that  the  subject  has  been  so  fully  discussed  in 
all  its  bearings,  for  the  past  five  years,  that  effectual  relief 
ought  to  be  provided  by  the  authorities  without  further  delay. 


Fourth.  Resolved.  That  it  would  be  just  that  the  con- 
struction of  such  a  road  should  be  aided  by  the  public  credit 


36 


of  the  City,  on  the  same  principles  upon  which  such  aid  has 
been  rendered  to  the  construction  of  the  Bridge  between  New 
York  and  Brooklyn. 

Fifth.  Resolved.  That  in  respect  to  the  route  of  such  a 
road,  whatever  may  be  done  along  the  borders,  a  central  route, 
on  or  near  Broadway,  is  indispensable  to  the  accommodation 
of  the  public,  and  should  be  the  first  one  constructed. 

Sixth.  Btsolved.  That  in  the  state  of  public  opinion  and 
official  action,  we  withhold  any  expression  of  opinion,  for  the 
present,  as  to  the  various  plans  of  underground,  elevated  or 
viaduct  roads. 

Respectfully  submitted  by  order  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

New  York,  January  9,  1871. 

JAMES  F.  KUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


On  the  subject  of  Rapid  Teansit,  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Whitbeck 
spoke  as  follows : 

The  people  object  to  the  viaduct  railway  proposed  for  this 
City  because  : 

It  will  cost  for  right  of  way  alone  from  three  to  five  millions 
of  dollars  per  mile,  which  amount  can  be  saved  by  construct- 
ing an  underground  road  following  the  course  of  streets  and 
avenues.  Repeated  estimates  by  the  best  real  estate  men  put 
this  cost  over  rather  than  under  the  amount  stated. 

Again,  the  people  object  because  a  delay  of  not  less  than 
three  years  must  occur  before  the  work  of  construction  can 
be  commenced,  in  order  to  carry  through  the  legal  proceedings 
for  the  forcible  taking  of  lands  and  buildings,  and  the  settle- 
ment of  damages  therefor.  Persons  who  know  the  time  con- 
sumed by  Commissions  in  cases  of  street  opening,  will  see  that 


37 


this  is  not  an  over  estimate  of  time,  and  to  this  then  must  be 
added  the  time  required  for  construction  itself,  in  all  a  longer 
period  than  the  people  are  willing  to  wait,  if  some  other  plan 
of  rapid  transit  will  afford  earlier  relief. 

But  the  people  chiefly  object  to  the  viaduct  because  of  its 
resulting  damage  to  property  in  the  districts  passed  through. 
The  elevated  way  running  across  Harlem  Flats  has  destroyed 
the  value  of  lots  on  Fourth  Avenue  fronting  upon  it,  and  very 
injuriously  affected  all  the  property  in  the  neighborhood  on  ei- 
ther side.  If  it  is  claimed  that  running  through  the  blocks  will 
cause  less  injury,  in  answer  it  may  be  stated  that  the  Croton 
Aqueduct  on  the  West  side  is  an  elevated  structure  running 
through  the  blocks  for  nearly  a  mile.  It  does  not  carry  upon 
it  the  thundering  locomotive,  and  rattling  noisy  trains  of  cars, 
passing  and  repassing  every  minute,  but  simply  supports  a 
tunnel  through  which  the  Croton  water  noiselessly  flows,  and 
yet  this  aqueduct,  no  more  unsightly  and  not  half  so  objection- 
able as  the  viaduct,  has  come  to  be  so  odious  to  the  people 
and  so  damaging  to  property  in  the  neighborhood,  that  legisla- 
tive action  against  it  has  been  invoked,  and  it  is  now  at 
great  expense  being  taking  down  and  removed  out  of  sight ; 
and  the  Croton  water  is  hereafter  to  be  carried  through  iron 
pipes  buried  in  the  earth.  With  this  result  as  to  the  aque- 
duct, will  the  people  of  this  City  and  the  West  Side  submit  to 
the  infliction  of  the  viaduct  road.  By  no  means,  but  if  such  a 
thing  is  in  reality  to  be  built,  application  had  better  be  made 
at  once  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  for  the  removal  of  the  aque- 
duct, it  should  not  be  taken  down  but  should  remain  and  be 
surmounted  with  the  rails  and  the  locomotive.  It  may  thus  an- 
swer the  double  purpose  of  aqueduct  and  viaduct. 

The  viaduct  will  ruin  property  wherever  it  goes.  It  is  esti- 
mated by  some  that  its  resulting  damage  to  property  below 
Fifty-ninth  street  will  be  not  less  than  $10,000,000  per  mile,  and 
by  others  competent  to  give  opinions  that  the  viaduct  will  in 
general  diminish  the  value  of  every  block  through  which  it 
runs  to  the  extent  of  thirty  per  cent.  This  fact  alone  is  suffi- 
cient to  condemn  it,  Let  the  people  then  wake  up  at  once 
and  put  an  end  to  this  outrageous  scheme. 

In  the  prospectus  of  the  viaduct  just  published,  it  is  stated 


38 


that  it  is  not  the  intention  of  its  prornotors,  to  define  its  route 
till  after  legislative  sanction  is  obtained.  The  Legislature 
surely  will  not  disgrace  itself  by  passing  such  an  act,  and  the 
men  of  New  York  will  not  remain  quiet  at  home  and  allow  it 
to  be  done.  Such  a  proposition  should  receive  its  merited 
condemnation  at  once.  The  people  have  a  right  to  know  now, 
where  this  destroyer  of  property  is  to  run,  and  know  whose 
houses  are  to  be  swept  away,  and  who  are  to  be  ruined  by  it. 

The  consequential  damages  resulting  from  the  construction 
of  underground  railways  in  this  city  will  be  very  trifling,  and 
will  end  when  the  road  is  completed,  for  the  subway  buried 
beneath  the  surface  of  streets,  enclosed  in  masonry  and  sur- 
rounded by  earth,  will  not  communicate  either  noise  or  vibra- 
tion to  adjoining  houses.  Its  operations  will  be  concealed  and 
it  will  be  perfectly  harmless. 

Independently  of  the  cost  of  right  of  way  and  resulting  dam- 
ages, engineers  disagree  as  to  which  will  cost  the  more  for 
construction,  the  underground  or  viaduct  way.  This  will  de- 
pend however  very  much  upon  the  plan  adopted  for  the  lat- 
ter. That  proposed  in  the  published  prospectus  will  un- 
doubtedly be  far  more  expensive  than  the  subway,  but  as  an 
offset  it  is  claimed  that  the  arches  which  support  it  may  be 
rented  for  an  amount  sufficient  to  pay  the  interest  on  the 
cost  of  right  of  way.  Experts  in  real  estate  management,  how- 
ever, say  that  this  income  will  amount  to  little  or  nothing. 
The  arches  of  the  viaducts  of  London  and  Paris  are  not  used, 
and  produce  no  income,  with  perhaps  one  exception  in  Paris, 
where  the  road  running  upon  a  broad  avenue  a  few  of  the 
arches  are  used  for  the  storage  of  bulky  articles.  If  it  were 
practicable  to  use  the  arches  of  the  viaduct,  the  discovery  would 
long  ago  been  made  in  those  cities. 

The  Mt.  Cenis  tunnel  just  opened  cost  less  than  $2,000,000 
per  mile,  notwithstanding  the  work  was  done  under  most 
unfavorable  circumstances.  Railroad  tunneling  is  less  expen- 
sive here.  It  is  estimated  that  the  tunnel  from  Union  Square 
to  the  Depot  at  Forty-second  streeican  be  constructed  by  drift- 
ing, wherever  there  is  rock,  in  nine  months,  at  an  expense  of 
$1,500,000;  and  that  the  whole  work  of  construction  between 
the  Battery  and  Forty-second  street,  including  drifting  under 


39 


Broadway,  without  cutting  the  surface  except  at  a  few  points, 
can  be  accomplished  in  two  years  at  an  expense,  exclusive  of 
stations,  of  less  than  $6,000,000.  Is  there  any  doubt  that  it 
would  pay.  The  carrying  capacity  of  the  road  will  be  equal  to 
any  demand  that  will  be  made  upon  it.  Now  let  any  one  make 
his  own  estimate  of  the  number  of  passengers  that  would  ride 
daily  on  the  road  at  five  cents  each,  and  he  can  very  soon  sat- 
isfy himself  not  only  that  it  will  pay,  but  also  that  it  will  be 
the  best  paying  road  in  the  world.  They  carried  on  the  Lon- 
don road  last  year  110,000  passengers  per  day,  and  expected 
as  soon  as  the  "  circle  "  was  complete  to  carry  200,000  per  day. 
Of  course  the  road  will  not  stop  at  Forty-second  street,  it  will 
be  continued  to  the  upper  end  of  the  Island. 

We  cannot  better  present  the  case  of  underground  and  via- 
duct roads  than  by  referring  to  some  of  the  conclusions  reached 
by  the  Committee  appointed  by  the  Senate  four  years  ago  to 
settle  the  matter  of  rapid  transit  in  this  city.  The  Commis- 
sion was  composed  of  three  Senators,  the  Mayor  of  the  City 
(Gov.  Hoffman  was  then  Mayor)  the  State  Engineer  and  the 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Department.  After  sit- 
ting for  months  and  examining  all  the  plans  presented,  about 
forty  in  number,  the  Committee  made  a  report  (a  volume  of 
good  size)  and  in  it  they  state  as  their  unanimous  opinion  : 

"  6.  That  a  system  of  railway  running  wholly  through  blocks 
would  involve  an  expense  for  right  of  way,  and  resulting  dam- 
ages, which  would  render  it  impracticable  to  convey  passengers 
for  long  distances  at  rates  of  fare  as  low  as  the  necessities  of 
the  case  require,  and  would,  moreover,  involve  too  great  delay 
in  the  acquisition  of  the  right  of  way  required. 

"  8.  That  underground  railways,  passing  under  streets,  pre- 
sent the  only  speedy  remedy  for  the  present  and  prospective 
wants  of  the  City  of  New  York,  in  the  matter  of  safe,  rapid  and 
cheap  transportation  of  person  and  property." 

New  York  now  demands  of  the  Legislature  the  adoption  of 
this  report  made  to  the  Senate  four  years  ago,  and  the  im- 
mediate passage  of  an  act  for  the  construction  of  an  under- 
ground railroad  and — under  Broadway. 


40 


Mr.  S.  E.  Church  then  spoke  on  the  subject  of  City  Steam 
Transit,  as  follows  : 

J/r.  President  and  Gentlemen: 

It  is  proposed  that  the  City  of  New  York,  in  its  corporate 
capacity,  shall  build  on  the  West  Side,  a  Steam  Railroad, 
from  the  Battery  to  the  Harlem  Eiver. 

In  approaching  once  more,  this  question  of  rapid  transit,  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  I  shall  hope  to  present  it  to  you,  in 
the  light  of  such  an  array  of  facts,  and  figures,  not  at  all  my 
own,  but  those  which  mark  the  growth,  present  status,  arid  fu- 
ture destiny  of  this  city,  that,  if  nothing  comes  of  it,  and  no  new 
era  of  City  Transit  shall  be  here  inaugurated,  it  shall  at  least 
be  seen,  how  imperative  is  the  necessity,  how  feasible  the  work, 
how  economical  the  expenditure. 

The  Necessity  of  the  work. 

The  necessity  of  improved  means  of  city  transit,  is  a  ques- 
tion needing  no  longer  to  be  argued.  Our  whole  population, 
men,  women  and  children  cry  out  for  it,  with  one  voice, — the 
City  Authorities  confess  it — the  Governor  proclaims  it.  Pro- 
bably, next  to  the  air  we  breathe,  or  the  food  we  eat,  no  one 
thing  in  city  life  touches  so  vitally  the  comfort  and  interest 
of  every  citizen,  of  every  condition,  in  every  calling,  every  day, 
as  this  question  of  city  transit.  A  stand-up  ride  of  six  miles, 
holding  on  to  a  strap,  in  a  city  car,  designed  for  22,  but  hold- 
ing 60,  is  quite  enough  on  any  day  and  in  its  best  estate  to  fix 
our  conviction  of  the  necessity  for  improvement ;  but  if  this 
process  be  repeated  twice  a  day,  each  day  in  the  year,  and  for 
a  series  of  years,  our  convictions  on  the  subject  will  be  intense- 
fied  to  any  reasonable  degree.  If  now  we  add  a  stormy  day, 
of  mfegled  rain,  snow,  sleet  and  slush,  and  fill  that  car  with  the 
steam  of  reeking  garments,  and  the  narrow  concave  over  our 
heads  with  the  fetid  odors  of  half  a  hundred  empty  stomachs, 
equaled  only  by  the  pestiferous  atmosphere  of  the  famed  "  Black 
hole  of  Calcutta,"  we  are  ready  to  cry  out  against  this  most 
monstrous  inhumanity  of  our  age. 


41 


Bat  our  estimate  of  the  importance  of  this  question,  and  the 
vehemence  of  our  demand  for  improvement,  should  not  be 
measured  by  the  mere  personal  sufferings  we  endure,  or  the 
business  injuries  we  sustain  by  this  mode  of  locomotion.  We 
are  members  of  a  great  city,  whose  real  fortune  is  yet  in  the 
future,  and  in  whose  destiny  is  wrapped  up  our  property,  our 
hopes,  and  all  the  interests  for  which  we  live  and  toil.  We 
know  what  a  ride  in  a  car  is  now — but  the  New  York  of  the 
future — of  ten  years  hence,  (to  speak  of  our  own  time  and  not 
that  of  our  children,)  what  shall  be  her  condition  then,  when 
the  difficulties  that  now  beset  us  have  increased  an  hundred 
fold?  It  is  in  the  light  which  a  consideration  of  this  question 
shall  give  us,  that  we  may  truly  estimate  the  magnitude  of  this 
question. 

And  on  this  subject,  a  recent  report  of  the  State  Engineer 
furnishes  the  desired  information. 

By  this  it  appears  that  the  ratio  of  travel  on  the  City  Bail- 
roads,  compared  to  the  total  number  of  inhabitants,  is  steadily 
and  rapidly  on  the  increase — being  in  1855  as  31  to  1 — that  is, 
every  inhabitant  traveled  on  the  roads  during  that  year  31 
times ;  while  in  1869,  the  rates  were  115  to  1,  or  every  inhabi- 
tant traveled  during  the  year  115  times. 

The  following  table  shows  the  progress  of  this  increase  from 
1855  to  the  present  time. 


Year.  Population.  Passenger  Circulation,  Ratio. 

1855  630,000  19,728,000  31  to  1 

1860  814,000  38,455,000  47  to  1 

1865  726,930  82,282,023  82  to  1 

(1869)  (118,000,000) ....  (115  to  1) 

1870. . . .  .926,341  (estim'd)  130,000,000  133  to  1 

Thus,  from  1860  to  1870,  while  the  increase  of  population 
was  but  13|  per  cent.,  the  passenger  circulation  was  increased 
from  43  to  1,  to  133  to  1,  or  more  than  300  per  cent. 

Allowing  the  same  ratio  of  increase  to  continue  for  the  next 
ten  years,  we  shall  have,  in  1880,  a  population  of  1,053,712, 
with  a  passenger  circulation  of  390,000,000,  requiring  an 
amount  of  accommodation,  I  need  not  say,  more  than  double 


42 


the  capacity  of  all  the  railroads  now  existing  in  the  city.  The 
result  seems  to  be,  that,  either  some  new  facilities  of  circula- 
tion must  be  given,  or  New  York  must  cease  to  grow,  or  grow 
elsewhere  than  in  New  York. 

130,000,000  passengers  transported  the  past  year — the  num- 
ber increasing  yearly,  until  in  1880,  400,000,000  are  to  find 
means  of  transit.  That  is  the  problem.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to 
see  in  the  light  of  this  statement,  what  is, 

The  Keal  Obstacle  that  stands  in  the  Way 

of  the  proper  solution  of  this  problem.  A  just  appreciation  of 
the  exhaustless  mine  of  wealth,  which  lies  concealed  in  any 
feasible  charter  that  secures  a  monopoly  of  this  immense 
carrying  trade,  now  and  for  all  time,  has  produced  what  might 
be  expected — a  general  scramble  for  such  a  charter. 

The  result  is  before  us.  I  need  not  recount  the  history  of 
attempted  and  abortive  legislation  on  this  subject  during  the 
past  ten  years.  All  manner  of  schemes,  underground,  over- 
ground, three  tier,  viaduct,  depressed,  arcade,  marginal,  tube, 
tunnel,  and  what  not,  have  been  pressed  with  all  manner  of 
argument,  illustrated  with  all  manner  of  pictures,  plates,  draw- 
ings, models  and  designs,  endorsed  by  imposing  certificates, 
bearing  imposing  and  illustrious  names,  and  urged  year  by 
year,  upon  the  public  and  the  Legislature,  with  all  the  strength 
of  earnest  conviction,  and  vast  material  resources  and  interests, 
and  yet  we  stand  to-day,  with  absolutely  nothing  done,  and 
the  practical  realization  of  our  wants,  apparently  as  far  in  the 
future,  as  on  the  day  we  began. 

Nor  have  the  adherents  of  these  various  schemes,  been  in 
many  cases,  without  earnest  and  thorough  convictions  that 
their  plans  were  right,  and  embraced  all  the  conditions  for 
meeting  exactly  all  the  city's  wants.  It  is  perhaps  the  very 
earnestness  of  such  convictions,  that  has  defeated  all  measures ; 
for  whoever  believes  his  own  plan,  alone,  is  right,  must  ne- 
cessarily oppose  all  other  plans,  tending  to  defeat  it,  and  which 
he  believes  are  wrong.  And  this  opposition  must  be  in  exact 
proportion  to  the  strength  of  his  convictions,  aided  by  the  per- 
sonal interests  involved.    In  one  word,  the  cause  of  all  our 


43 


defeats  is  to  be  found  in  the  active,  earnest  and  persistent  op- 
position of  rival  schemes,  and  conflicting  interests,  which  has 
thwarted  thus  far,  and  which  will  continue  to  thwart,  an}r,  and 
all  practical  legislation  on  this  subject. 

At  one  sweep  of  the  legislative  session  of  '69,  the  following 
schemes  were  given  the  coup  de  grace,  although  each  had  per- 
suaded itself  and  its  supporters,  that  it  was  just  the  thing, 
and  was  "  sure  to  pass,"  namely :  "  The  Manhattan  Under- 
ground"; "  The  Peoples  Railroad"  ;  "The  Peoples  Metropol- 
itan Suburban  Railway";  "The  New  York  Underground 
Railroad,"  and  "  The  Metropolitan  Transit  Railway,"  while 
the  "Three  Tier,"  the  "Suspension  Bridge,"  the  "Arcade," 
and  other  plans,  had  either  gone  before,  or  followed  the  mel- 
ancholy train  behind.  Of  all  the  many  schemes  which  have 
thus  deluded  the  public,  and  vexed  the  Legislature  the  past 
ten  years,  those  which  have  crystalized  into  actual  charters, 
are  the  "  Pneumatic  Tube,"  now  making  daily  trips  under 
Broadway,  and  the  Institutions  of  Center  and  Greenwich 
streets — the  one  in  the  ground — the  other  in  the  air. 

Such  is  the  fruitless  result  of  ten  years  of  patient  waiting, 
hoping,  paying,  praying.    What  then,  is 

The  "Way  out  of  the  Difficulty. 

Is  it  not  plainly  suggested  by  the  difficulty  itself  ?  Here 
are  200,000,000  passengers  demanding  transit — soon  to  be 
increased  to  400,000,000 — offering  a  revenue,  at  5  cents  each, 
of  $10,000,000,  soon  to  be  made  $20,000,000 ;  and  here  are 
half  a  score  of  "  Companies,"  all  anxious  to  carry  them,  but 
in  a  dead  lock  struggle  for  the  charter  that  shall  give  them 
this  carriage  ;  but  only  as  a  monopoly,  and  with  a  double  tariff. 
And  while  they  hold  each  other  by  the  throat,  the  People  pay 
their  taxes,  and  continue  to  hang  by  the  strap,  or  go  afoot. 

Such  being  the  problem  and  the  situation,  I  offer  it  as  the 
true  solution  of  the  difficulty,  that  the  City  itself,  in  its  own 
sovereign  capacity,  shall  cut  this  gordian  knot,  and  setting  aside 
all  private  schemes  and  interests  whatsoever,  declare,  that  that 
which  so  intimately  concerns  her  commerce,  her  growth,  and 
her  prosperity,  the  peace,  comfort,  and  welfare  of  her  citizens 
is  preeminently  her  own  work,  and  she  tvill  build  the  Road. 


44 


I  am  aware  that  the  first  suggestion  of  a  City  Kailroad,  as 
a  city  work,  will  encounter  prejudice  in  many  minds,  which  are 
imbued  with  the  notion  that  railroad  building,  is  not  properly 
within  the  scope  of  government  functions.  But  a  little  reflec- 
tion, will,  I  am  sure,  disarm  such  prejudice.  The  city  already 
opens  common  streets  and  avenues,  to  provide  the  channels 
of  traffic  and  commerce  to  her  citizens.  She  regulates,  grades 
and  paves  them.  Does  any  one  question  this,  as  an  appropriate 
function  of  the  City  Government  ?  But  in  what  respect  does 
an  avenue  opened,  graded,  and  paved  with  iron,  upon  which 
vehicles  carrying  hundreds,  may  move  at  30  miles  an  hour, 
differ  in  principle  from  any  other  street,  opened,  graded  and 
paved  with  wood,  or  stone,  upon  which  vehicles  can  only  move 
with  one-tenth  the  burden  and  one-tenth  the  speed?  The 
difference  is  indeed  very  great,  but  it  is  a  difference  in  perfec- 
tion only,  and  not  in  principle,  and  it  would  be  strange  indeed, 
if  the  proper  function  of  government  stopped,  only  when  its 
exercise  was  likely  to  prove  perfect  and  efficient. 

But  the  principle  is  everywhere  recognized,  that  whatever 
work  is  essential  to  the  public  welfare,  and  either  cannot  or 
ought  not  to  be  committed  to  private  hands,  is  the  proper  and 
legitimate  work,  of  the  government  itself. 

It  is  to  this  principle,  that  we  are  indebted  for  our  whole 
postal  system,  for  the  Erie  Canal,  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  and 
last  but  not  least,  our  Central  Park — works  which  have  en- 
riched the  Nation,  State  and  City,  and  enriched  our  people  a 
hundred  fold  beyond  what  they  ever  did,  or  could  cost.  It  wTill 
be  strange  indeed  if  the  government  of  this  great  city  has  no 
other  function  but  to  cultivate  flowers,  provide  winding  walks 
for  pleasure  seekers  and  ball  grounds  for  children,  while  its 
streets  are  choked,  and  its  commerce  and  business  strangled, 
in  the  very  effort  to  live.  These  do,  indeed,  but  not  leave 
the  other  undone.  The  Iron  horse  for  commerce  first,  and 
hobby  horses  for  children  afterward,  as  much  as  you  will. 

The  work  ought  not  to  be  done  by  private  Monopolies. 

Nor  ought  so  vast  an  interest  as  the  control  of  thoroughfares, 
on  which  a  million  people  are  to  find  their  way  daily,  to  and 


45 


from  their  places  of  abode,  and  business,  to  be  turned  over  to 
any  private  corporation,  or  monopoly,  however  able,  or  how- 
ever willing  to  assume  it.  The  trust  is  too  great ;  the  tempta- 
tion to  abuse  too  imminent.  Men  in  their  best  estate  are  sel- 
fish and  grasping — corporations,  proverbially,  have  no  souls. 
The  process  by  which  the  substance  of  the  people  is  eaten  out, 
in  then*  demand  for  higher  tariffs,  in  order  to  make  dividends 
on  stocks  which  have  been  watered  to  three  times  their  orig- 
inal amount,  is  becoming  familiar  to  our  people,  is  a  just  oc- 
casion of  alarm,  and  is  producing  a  general  cry  for  reform. 
Yet  this  process,  particularly  practiced  by  our  present  city 
roads,  will  find  a  new  and  apt  illustration  in  the  demand  these 
roads  are  about  to  make  of  the  present  Legislature,  for  an 
increase  of  fares,  though  it  is  well  known  their  stock  is  worth 
300  to  400  per  cent,  over  the  first  investment. 

Of  all  the  schemes  which  have  thus  far  presented  themselves 
to  the  Legislature  for  a  charter,  not  one  has  contented  itself 
with  a  demand  for  less  than  ten,  while  some  have  modestly 
required  fifteen  cents,  as  the  tariff  on  each  through  passenger, 
than  which  nothing  could  prove  more  mischievous  in  its  re- 
sults, since  cheap,  as  well  as  quick  transit,  is  the  first  condition 
of  our  business  prosperity. 

A  private  corporation  has  no  characteristic  which  fits  it, 
as  a  monopoly,  to  be  entrusted  with  the  carriage  of  this  people 
up  and  down  this  Island.  Its  whole  end  is  dividends — its  whole 
life  and  energies  are  devoted  to  the  means  of  paying  them — 
its  virtue  lies  in  their  frequency  and  amount.  Against  these, 
the  public  interest  is  nothing — the  public  welfare  nothing, 
except  so  far  as  it  subserves,  or  contributes  to  this  great  end, 
of  dividends. 

The  City  Corporation,  on  the  contrary,  has  no  dividends  to 
make.  Its  responsibility  to  the  people  is  direct  and  immedi- 
ate. Every  year  its  trustees  must  render  their  account  to  the 
people,  at  the  assize  of  the  ballot  box.  Its  whole  tendency 
and  interest  must  be  to  render  its  work  popular,  and  secure 
the  popular  applause.  It  must  be  conducted  in  the  peoples, 
interest,  because  it  is  the  peoples,  work — "  by  the  people,  of  the 
people,  and  for  the  people."  The  Croton  Water  Department, 
is  an  example  of  such  an  interest  confided  to  the  Municipal 


46 


Corporation — the  Gas  Companies  are  another,  of  a  similar  in- 
terest, confided  to  a  private  monopoly.  Let  our  citizens  con- 
sult their  dealings  with  these  two  Institutions  in  this  City,  and 
the  argument  is  at  rest. 

The  Woek  will  be  done. 

I  need  only  add,  that  if  this  policj?-  of  constructing  the  road 
as  a  city  work,  is  adopted,  the  whole  problem  is  solved ;  the 
work  is  done.  The  city  lacks  no  funds, — she  lacks  no  means 
for  securing  at  once  the  right  of  way — and  with  the  way  and  the 
means,  what  more  lacks.  Let  the  Legislature  appoint  a  Com- 
mission bearing  such  names  as  will  command  the  public  con- 
fidence, and  direct  the  work  to  be  done,  and  it  is  a  fact  already 
accomplished.  Our  wearied  and  overburthened  tax  and  assess- 
ment payers  upon  lots  as  barren  of  returns,  as  the  deserts  of 
Sahara,  may  begin  to  build  their  houses,  with  the  assurance 
that  the  iron  way  is  already  approaching  their  thresholds. 

I  have  endeavored  thus  far  to  point  out  the  necessity  of  this 
improvement ;  the  obstacles  which  have  opposed  it,  and  the 
true  way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

It  remains  to  me  now,  only  to  turn  to  that  side  of  the  pro- 
ject where  it  will  be  thought  to  be  most  sensitive  to  criticism, 
and  to  consider  the  cost, — to  treat  the  question  from 

The  Tax  Payers  Point'  oe  View. 

And  here  I  venture  to  think,  that  in  the  considerations  to  be 
presented,  will  be  made  plain,  beyond  any  power  to  question, 
the  following  propositions : 

1st.  That  such  a  road  built  by  the  city,  while  the  work  is 
secured,  will  not  cost  the  tax  payer  a  dollar. 

2d.  That  it  will  relieve  both  the  tax  payer  and  the  city 
largely,  from  the  burthen  of  taxes,  now  paid. 

3d.  That  in  its  direct  revenues,  and  it  sinfluence  upon  busi- 
ness and  property,  it  will  constitute  a  lasting,  and  continually 
increasing  source  of  revenue,  to  the  City  Treasury. 


47 


I  beg  your  kind  and  careful  attention  to  the  simple  figures 
which  follow,  and  your  own  judgment  upon  them,  whether  this 
is  so. 

I  assume,  that  the  cost  of  such  a  road,  will  be  820,000,000. 
I  have  not  time  here,  to  go  into  the  data  upon  which  this  esti- 
mate is  based,  nor  is  it  important,  for  if  the  cost  were  30  or 
$40,000,000,  it  would  not  essentially  weaken  the  argument  pro- 
posed, or  disturb  the  propositions  advanced.  But  let  me  in 
passing,  say  that  they  who  carelessly  assert  the  cost  of  such  a 
road,  would  be  30,  40,  or  $50,000,000,  have  not  duly  considered 
the  estimates  of  cost,  or  what  is  involved  in  amounts  so  easily 
spoken. 

The  Erie  Canal,  cost  but  $7,143,789.  The  Croton  Aqueduct, 
including  $1,800,000  expended  for  service  pipes  in  the  city,  but 
$12,500,000.  The  Central  Park  to  this  date,  with  all  its  struc- 
tures, to  but  $10,000,000,  while  the  original  capital  of  the  Hud- 
son River  Railroad  was  but  $7,000,000.  It  will  be  strange,  if  a 
railroad  the  length  of  this  Island,  cannot  be  built  for  three 
times  the  cost  of  a  road  from  here  to  Albany. 

I  advocate  no  particular  plan,  for  when  the  city  resolves  to 
do  the  work,  she  must  define  the  plan,  and  prescribe  the  route, 
but  it  will  be  proper  to  say,  the  estimate  of  $20,000,000,  con- 
templates a  depressed,  or  Canal  bed  road,  75  feet  wide,  with 
four  tracks,  proceeding  through  the  middle  of  blocks,  from  the 
Harlem  River,  to  the  vicinity  of  Washington  Square,  and  thence 
by  Arcade  through  streets  (other  than  Broadway,)  already  be- 
longing to  the  city,  to  the  Batteiy. 

Should  any  other  route  or  plan  be  adopted,  the  estimates 
may  require  to  be  changed,  but,  as  has  been  said,  the  amount 
may  be  doubled  without  essentially  weakening  the  argument 
now  to  be  presented. 

To  build  this  road  then,  will  require  the  issue  of  City  Bonds, 
during  the  process  of  construction,  to  the  amount  of  $20,000,000. 

The  interest  on  these  at  6  per  cent.,  will  be  1,200,000 

This  amount  will  require  to  be  added  to  the  sum  of  our  annual 
taxation.  The  question  is,  what  fund  shall  be  looked  to,  to  re- 
deem this  extra  annual  charge,  so  that  it  shall  not  become  a 
burthen  to  the  tax  payer,  so  that  it  shall  relieve  the  burthens 
he  already  has.    Let  us  consider. 


48 


Taxes  are  assessed  upon  property.  We  have  no  poll  tax. 
We  assess  only  upon  property  valuations.  Given  the  amount 
to  be  raised,  if  the  valuation  is  high,  the  rate  is  low ;  if  the 
valuation  is  low,  the  rate  is  high.    This  needs  no  illustration. 

The  total  valuation  of  property  in  this  City,  real  and  per- 
sonal, for  the  year  1870,  is, 

Real  property   $742,103,075.00 

Personal  "    305,285,374.00 


Total,    $1,047,388,449.00 

The  rate  of  taxation  is   2.25 


The  total  amount  of  taxes  raised  there- 
fore is   $23,366,240.11 

To  raise  the  additional  sum  for  interest 

on  bonds   1,200,000.00 

Without  increasing,  the  rate  requires  an 

additional  valuation  of   $53,333,333.00 

The  question  then  is,  what  will  be  the  influence  of  such  a 
road,  when  built,  towards  effecting  that  increased  valuation. 

-  Like  all  predictions  of  future  values,  we  must  estimate  by 
experience,  analogies  and  comparisons. 

Of  the  effect  in  a  broad  sense,  which  such  an  improvement 
will  have  upon  the  general  property  and  business  of  the  City, 
and  its  consequent  general  wealth,  (probably  really  the  largest 
item  in  the  statement,)  I  take  no  account  in  this  estimate. 

Of  the  increased  value  which  such  a  road  will  give  to  pro- 
perty doivn  town,  I  take  no  account,  though  it  must  be  obvious, 
that  if  the  value  of  the  home  up  town,  is  increased  by  being 
brought  nearer  the  store,  the  value  of  the  store  must  also  be 
increased,  somewhat,  by  being  brought  nearer  the  home. 

Nor  do  I  take  any  account  of  the  value  of  time,  that  will  be 
saved  by  this  improvement,  tho'  ^nowhere  is  it  so  true,  as  in 
New  York,  that  "  time  is  money,"  and  tho'  it  is  evident  that  the 
two  hours  spent  each  day  by  100;000  people  in  mere  travel,  in 
going  and  returning  to  and  from  their  places  of  business,  is  a 
tax  of  one-fifth  of  their  whole  business  time,  and  if  estimated 
at  the  same  rate  as  the  balance  of  their  time,  would  pay  the 
whole  cost  of  such  a  road,  many  times  every  year. 


49 


Nor  finally,  do  I  at  all  consider  the  personal  ease  and  comfort 
with  which  an  entire  population  of  a  million  of  people,  are  let 
into  their  daily  avocations  of  business  or  pleasure,  and  their 
energies,  tastes,  and  wants  stimulated  into  a  million  activities. 

All  these  must  be  left  to  reflection — let  us  come  to  a  narrower 
field,  and  where  more  certain  data  may  be  had. 

One-half  of  this  Island  is  a  barren  waste  of  lots.  These  are 
wholly  unimproved  and  unproductive,  the  taxes  paid  upon  them, 
being  so  much  extracted  from  the  direct  capital  or  industry  of 
the  owners,  without  any  return  whatever.  Yet  they  have  a 
value.  That  value  depends  entirely  upon  a  prospective  de- 
maud  for  their  use  for  residence  or  business ; — Whatever  brings 
that  prospect  near  enhances  that  value — whatever  puts  it  off 
diminishes  it. 

The  Central  Park  up  to  1869,  cost  810,463,965.33.  Its  effect 
was  to  render  these  lots  attractive  as  places  of  residences, 
when  they  should  hereafter  be  used  as  such  ;  but  it  did  noth- 
ing towards  bringing  them  near  to  business,  or  to  render  such 
use  more  immediately  practicable.  Yet  its  influence  to  that 
extent,  was  such  as  happly  to  disappoint  the  forebodings  of 
those,  who,  in  its  early  history  denounced  it  as  a  measure  of 
indefensible  extravagance.  The  Central  Park,  tho'  costing 
$10,000,000,  has  imposed  no  burthen  upon  the  City,  but  is, 
on  the  contrary,  a  direct  source  of  revenue  to  the  City  Treas- 
ury.   The  following  statement,  shows  thus. 

The  total  valuation  of  real  estate,  in  the  three  Wards  around 
the  Park— the  12th  19th  and  22cl— was, 


in  1856   $26,429,566 

"  1866,   80,070,415 

Increase   $53,640,850 

Taxes  received  on  this  increase  at  2.30  ....  .$1,233,739.55 
Deduct  interest  on  City  Bonds,  issued  for 

construction   596,899.75 

And  there  was  a  surplus  revenue  of   $636,839.80 


50 


In  1867,  this  surplus  was 


$1,411,686.95 
1,809,966.39 
2,781,405.43 


1868 
1869 
1870 


estimated,  3,246,283.84 


Thus  much,  on  the  question  of  economy,  of  an  improvement 
costing  $10,000,000,  whose  purpose  was,  not  to  render  the 
prop  rty  around  it  more  available  for  actual  residence,  for  it 
did  not  do  that,  but  to  render  it  more  desirable,  whenever  it 
should  be  rendered  available.  It  doubled  the  value  of  all  lots 
in  its  vicinity,  increased  those  immediately  fronting  upon  it  ten- 
fold, and  laid  the  basis  for  increased  tax  revenues,  to  an  amount 
which  pays,  not  merely  the  interest  on  its  cost,  but  furnishes  a 
surplus,  sufficient,  if  used  as  a  sinking  fund,  to  pay  the  entire 
principal  of  the  cost,  in  less  than  five  years.  And  yet  this 
property  is  still  as  far  beyond  the  reach  of  actual  improvement, 
as  it  was  before  the  park  was  projected. 

What  then,  shall  be  the  influence  upon  values,  of  this  next 
improvement,  whose  immediate  effect  will  be  to  render  every 
lot  available,  by  bringing  it  within  the  easiest  access — which 
abolishes  all  distinction  between  up  town  and  down  values, 
founded  upon  distance — which  brings  100th  street  practicably 
nearer  to  Wall  street  and  the  City  Hall,  than  14th  street  now 
is?  Can  I  be  mistaken  in  saying  that  with  their  natural  advan- 
tages, aided  by  their  surroundings  of  great  public  parks  and 
drives,  they  must  be  more  desirable  as  residences,  and  hence 
must  become  more  valuable  than  any  lots  below  them,  and  be- 
yond the  reach  of  these  influences.  If  so,  and  they  approxi- 
mate the  value  of  such  lower  lots,  their  value  must  be  in- 
creased four-fold. 

But  let  us  assume  that  in  the  12th  and  22d  Wards,  through 
which  this  road  will  directly  pass,  their  value  is  only  doubled. 
What  then  is  the  result. 

In  1870,  the  total  valuation  assessed,  and  taxes  levied  on 
these  two  Wards  were, 


51 


Valuation. 


Taxes. 


12th  Ward 
22d  Ward, 


$48,855,875 
.53,147,720 


$1,099,564.84 
1,195,797.98 


Total,  

This  doubled,  gives 


$102,003,595 
.204,007,190 


$2,295,362.78 
4,590,725.56 


Increase  $102,003,595 

Deduct  interest  on  cost  of  construction 


$2,285,362.78 
.  1,200,000.00 


Net  surplus  of  revenue  for  two  "Wards  alone .  .  $1 ,095,352.78 

But  the  16th,  19th,  20th  and  21st  Wards,  must  feel  largely 
the  influence  of  the  same  improvement,  though  not  in  the 
same  degree.  If  their  gain  is  but  one-quarter  as  much  as  the 
others,  they  will  add  to  this  surplus  of  tax  revenue,  $1,081,- 
531.95,  making  a  total  surplus  of  $2,176,894.73. 

But  we  have  thus  far,  been  estimating  this  property, 
mainly  as  vacant  lots.  The  improvement  contemplates  that 
these  lots  being  rendered  accessible,  and  our  fugitive  popula- 
tion, being  called  back  to  the  city,  will  be  built  upon.  Ex- 
perience shows,  that  as  a  general  statement,  building  in  New- 
York,  adds  to  the  value  of  the  lot  built  upon,  three-fold.  If 
a  lot  be  worth  $5,000,  the  lot  and  building  will  be  worth 
$15,000,  increasing  the  basis  of  taxation  to  that  amount.  If 
then,  we  are  to  contemplate  the  district  as  covered  with  build- 
ings, and  increase  our  estimates  at  this  rate,  we  shall  have  a 
net  surplus  of  over  $6,000,000,  or  enough,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Central  Park,  to  pay,  not  merely  this  interest  on  cost,  but 
the  whole  cost  itself,  in  less  than  five  years. 

But  we  must  now  turn  to  another  view  of  the  matter,  in  its 
financial  aspect,  which  will  surprise  us  with  its  results.  It  is 
often  as  necessary  to  consider,  what  a  given  project  will  save 
of  losses,  as  what  it  will  insure  of  gains. 

Hitherto,  we  have  been  practicably  debarred  from  one-half 
of  this  Island,  and  its  improvement,  by  a  policy  which  has 
kept  it  inaccessible.  Let  us  now  see  what  this  policy  has 
already  cost  the  city. 

An  examination  of  the  census  returns,  shows,  that  for  fifty 


52 


years  prior  to  1860,  the  increase  of  population,  was  almost 
uniform,  and  at  the  rate  of  28  per  cent,  every  five  years.  At 
that  date,  (I860,)  building  had  extended  so  far  northward,  and 
away  from  business,  that  it  could  no  longer  be  continued,  and 
find  tenants  who  could  reside  there,  and  do  business  to  ad- 
vantage. 

The  result  was,  that  the  increase  rapidly  fell  off,  notwith- 
standing all  the  enticements  of  parks,  drives,  arid  other  im- 
provements, so  that  for  the  next  ten  years,  the  increase  was 
but  13J  per  cent.,  (instead  of  56  per  cent.,  as  it  should  have 
been.) 

The  following  table  shows  this  : 

Population  of  Njew-York. 


per  cent. 


Year.  Population.  Kate  of  Increase. 

1820  123,706  

1825  166,089  33 

1830  202,589  21| 

1835  270,068  33| 

1840  312,710  15  J 

1845  371,223  31£ 

1850  515,547  38| 

1855  629,810  21£ 

1860  814,254  29J 

1865  726,930  loss  9| 

1870  


926,341  26 J 


a 

o 

00 

© 

I 

> 

< 


over  '65, 
"  1860. 


Had  the  average  gain  continued  since  1860,  the  same  as 
before,  the  population  should  have  been,  in 

1865. . .  .1,042,247  is  726,930,  actual  loss,  315,317. 
1870 ....  1,334,074  is  926,34 1 ,     "       "  407,732. 

We  have  thus  sustained  a  loss,  at  the  present  moment,  of 
407,732,  or  nearly  50  per  cent,  of  our  total  number  of  inhabi- 
tants. 

The  following  table  shows  where  they  have  gone  to. 


53 


County.  IS50.  1870.  Increase,  Rate, 

New-York,          515,547.  .926,341 .  . 410,794. .  80  per  ct. 

Kings  138,832 . .  490,202 .  .  281,410 . .  130 

Westchester....  58,253 ..  132,283 . .  74,025.  127A  " 
Hudson,  N.  J. . .  21,822 . .  128,275 . .  125,543 . .  477^  " 

Should  this  average  increase  of  our  population,  continue  for 
the  next  ten  years,  as  during  the  last  ten,  instead  of  during  the 
previous  fifty,  the  gain,  and  loss,  will  he  as  follows  : 

Year.  Pop.  will  be.  Should  be.  Loss. 

1875   995,816  1,708,613   712,797 

1880  1,056,028  2,180,023  1,128,995 

We  thus  find  that  our  present  loss,  is  nearly  50  per  cent,  of 
our  present  population.  Five  years  hence,  it  will  be  nearly  90 
per  cent.,  and  ten  years  hence,  it  will  exceed  110  per  cent. 

What  does  this  Cost  us  in  Money  ? 

We  have  seen  that  the  total  taxes  for  1870  is  $23,566,240.11. 

This  is  assessed  upon  a  population  of  926,341,  giving  an 
average  of  $25.41  for  each  inhabitant.  It  is  true  the  assess- 
ment is  not  made  upon  the  inhabitants,  but  upon  their  proper- 
ty— but  this  is  the  average  of  the  taxable  property,  of  each  in- 
habitant. Surety,  those  we  have  driven  away,  would  not  be 
below  the  general  average.  If  they  were  here,  they  would 
require  a  corresponding  number  of  houses  to  live  in — would  be 
mostly  householders  and  houseowners.  They  would  be  above, 
rather  than  below  the  general  average.  It  is  not  the  class 
which  crowd  our  tenement  houses,  that  we  drive  away. 

If  now  our  present  population  pay  taxes,  at  the  rate  of 
$25.41  a  head,  then  our  loss  of  407,732  in  population,  has  en- 
tailed a  loss  upon  us  the  present  year  of  $10,356,392. 

If  we  follow  this  loss  out,  for  the  next  ten  years,  founded 
upon  the  loss  of  our  legitimate  ratio  of  increase,  the  total  ag- 
gregate will  be  over  $150,000,000.  If  we  trace  it  backward, 
for  the  past  ten  years,  it  has  already  actually  cost  us  $60,000,000. 

Thus  is  it  proved  by  figures  faithful  in  their  truthfulness,  and 


54 


inexorable  in  their  logic,  that  this  •policy,  which  has  shut 
New  Yorkers  out  from  the  occupancy  of  their  own  territory,  by 
withol  ling  a  proper  road  into  it,  has  already  cost  the  city  more 
than  three  times  the  whole  cost  of  such  a  road,  and  will,  if  per- 
sisted in,  in  ten  years,  cost  seven  times  as  much  more. 

It  cannot  be  needed  that  I  should  pursue  this  inquiry  further. 
You  will  perceive  that  I  have  as  yet  said  nothing  whatever 
upon  the  subject  of  the  proper  earnings  or  revenues  of  the  road 
itself.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  such  a  road,  in  the  midst  of 
such  a  population,  running  to  its  full,  or  approaching  its  full 
capacity,  will  not  do  something  towards  paying  its  own  way 
in  the  world — and  perhaps  relieve  tax  payers  from  supporting 
it  at  all.  Regarding  as  I  do,  every  hour  required,  and  every 
dollar  spent,  in  going  to  and  from  business,  as  a  direct  tax,  upon 
that  business,  and  that  the  first  condition  of  prosperity  in  a 
commercial  city,  is  freedom  from  business  taxation,  I  would 
prefer  to  see,  this  road  made  an  absolutely  free  road — an  un- 
taxed highway  of  trade  and  commerce  and  social  life,  for  this 
great  city  for  all  time — supported  by  a  common  treasury,  just 
as  light  houses  and  other  facilities  of  commerce  are  now  sup- 
ported, under  a  full  conviction  that  the  trade  aud  commerce 
thus  stimulated  would  here,  as  there,  replenish  that  treasury 
and  return  the  loan  an  hundredfold. 

But  as  such  a  policy  will  not  now  be  generally  approved,  it 
needs  only  a  few  words,  in  respect  to  the  direct  revenues  of  the 
road.  No  rate  of  fare  should  ever,  for  a  moment  be  thought 
of,  exceeding  five  cents  for  the  length  of  the  Island. 

We  said  at  the  beginning,  that  the  passenger  circulation  of 
this  city,  was  last  year  130,000,000.  Before  the  road  can  be 
completed,  it  will  be  200,000,000.  In  ten  years,  even  at  our 
present  rates  of  increase  it  will  be  400,000,000.  This  is  wholly 
of  up  and  down  town  city  Railroad  travel,  and  excludes  en- 
tirely the  hundreds  of  thousands  taken  in  and  out  of  the  city 
daily  by  20  ferries,  50  suburban  port  steamboats,  three  steam 
railroads,  the  various  Omnibus  lines,  private  carriages,  and 
other  conveyances. 

It  is  believed  this  road,  such  as  is  contemplated,  with  4  tracks 
and  running  every  minute,  will  do  its  full  share  of  this  carriage. 
It  will  have  many  connections  at  its  northen  end,  in  West- 


55 


Chester  county  and  will  be  largely  used  for  freight,  especially 
in  the  night  time.  Its  freight  and  mail  service  has  been  es- 
timated by  others  at  $6,000,000  per  annum.  Let  me  ask  that 
its  earnings  from  all  sources,  except  passenger  fares,  be  al- 
lowed to  pay  only  its  running  expenses,  leaving  its  passenger 
fares  as  net.  If  then  it  carries  one-half,  or  one-third  of  this 
passenger  circulation,  its  net  income  at  5  cents  fare  will  be  as 
follows  : 


1873,  on  100,000,000  circulation  being  ^  $5,000,000 

"  666,000,000        "  "     £   3,333,000 

1880,  "  200,000,000        "  "     J   10,000,000 

"  133,000,000        "  "     1   6,666,000 


In  any  event  paying  15  to  20  per  cent,  upon  its  cost  at  the 
start,  with  30  to  50  per  cent,  at  the  end  of  ten  years. 

I  here  leave  this  discussion.  In  any  aspect  in  which  it  can 
be  viewed,  but  one  result  can  be  attained.  The  immediate 
construction  of  this  road  by  the  city,  is  demanded  by  every 
consideration  of  interest,  policy  and  economy.  Not  to  do  it, 
is  a  policy  of  crowning  wastefulness,  oppression  and  folly. 

But  not  merely  as  lot  owners  and  tax  payers  only,  do  we  de- 
mand this  improvement.  We  are  true  citizens  of  New  York. 
We  glory  in  every  token  of  her  wealth,  her  greatness  and  her 
fame.  With  pride  we  see  her  reach  her  iron  arms  across  the 
Continent,  to  invite  the  treasures  of  the  East ;  and  send  her 
commercial  flag  unto  every  Sea  and  Ocean.  Still  greater  is 
the  pride  with  which  we  contemplate  in  the  future  her  rocky 
heights  and  waste  places  filled  with  palaces,  and  monuments 
dedicated  to  Art  and  Science,  which  her  Princes  know  how 
to  build — her  streets  throbbing  with  the  pulsations  of  her 
great  industrial  life — her  commerce  enriching,  and  her  civili- 
zation blessing  every  Nation.  Great  abroad,  she  struggles 
now  for  breath  at  home.  Break  these  gyves  that  bind  her. 
Give  New  York  a  chance  to  grow,  and  she  will  achieve  her  own 
destiny,  and  become,  not  merely  the  Queen  City  of  the  Conti- 
nent, but  the  Imperial  Metropolis  of  the  World. 


56 


At  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Church's  address,  the  adoption  of 
the  resolutions  presented  by  the  Executive  Committee,  (page 
35,)  were  moved  and  seconded. 

The  first,  second,  third,  fifth  and  sixth  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted. 

When  the  question  was  put  on  the  fourth  resolution,  Mr.  J. 
Mansfield  Davies,  moved  the  following  substitute  for  it: 

Fourth.  Besolved.  That  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Corporation 
of  the  City  of  New-York  to  build  and  construct  a  road  or 
roads,  such  as  will  give  rapid  transit  from  the  centre  to  the 
extreme  ends  of  the  Island,  and  that  the  Corporation  be  re- 
quested to  ask  authority  to  construct  such  road  or  roads. 

This  substitute  was  adopted  in  place  of  the  fourth  resolution 
(page  35)  reported  by  the  Executive  Committee. 

Representations  have  since  been  made  to  the  President  by 
gentlemen  who  said  they  did  not,  at  the  time  the  vote  was 
taken,  understand  the  question ;  by  others,  who  had  left  the 
meeting  on  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  that  they  were 
opposed  to  it  and  desired  to  discuss  it. 

This  qualification  must  therefore  be  given  to  the  resolution, 
as  an  expression  of  the  judgment  of  the  Association. 

Mr.  John  W.  Pirsson  offered  the  following  resolution,  which 
was  adopted. 

Besolved.  That  the  subject  of  the  passage  of  an  act  to  ex- 
empt Bonds  and  Mortgages  from  taxation  be  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee  for  action  thereon,  and  that  they  be 
requested  to  prepare  a  suitable  memorial  to  the  Legislature, 
and  to  procure  signatures  thereto. 

Mr.  Bacon  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted. 


Resolved.  That  the  matters  presented  in  the  address  of  Mr. 
Colgate,  on  the  subject  of  appropriate  names  for  the  new  Ave- 


57 


nues,  Streets  and  Public  Places,  be  referred  to  the  Executive 
Committee,  to  report  at  the  next  meeting. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

JAMES  F.  BUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


The  third  public  meeting,  is  announced  for  Wednesday 
evening,  the  8th  February,  1871,  at  7}2  o'clock,  at  the  Harvard 
Booms,  Sixth  Avenue,  corner  Forty-second  street. 

The  following  subjects  will  be  presented. 

The  report  of  the  Executive  Committee,  on  appropriate 
names  for  the  new  Avenues,  etc. 

The  Biverside  Park. 

The  Ninth  and  Tenth  Avenues. 

Westchester  Annexation. 


Bapid  Transit. 


JAMES  F.  BUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 
New-York,  1870—1871. 


Document  No.  3. 
PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THE 

THIRD  PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held   on   the   8th   February,  1871. 

ADDRESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  B.  OCIDEN, 
WILLL1M  R.  MARTIN,  &c. 


J.  ADNAH  SACKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER, 
No.  48  John  Street. 

1871, 


• 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 


-:o:- 


PRE8LDENT, 

WM.  E.  MARTIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  KUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street. 

TREASURER, 

R.  H.  ARKENBURGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKK.NBCRGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
ROSWELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  OARRIGfcN, 
CHARLES  SANFORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
Y.  K.  STEVENSON, 
JONATHAN  EDGAR, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MARSHALL  O.  ROBERTS 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVER  MORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAYID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BENJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


NOTICE. 


 :o:  

The  West  Side  Association  propose  to  continue  their  public 
meetings,  during  the  Season  of  1870-71,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
the  attention  of  the  owners  of  property  upon  the  importance  of  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  public  improvements  on  the  West  side  ; 
the  grading  of  Streets  and  Avenues,  and  the  completion  of  the 
Public  Parks  already  laid  out ;  and  upon  the  necessity  of  rapid 
transit:  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  public  opinion 
on  these  subjects  into  power,  and  giving  it  the  right  direction  to- 
tvard  accomplishing  these  objects. 

All  owners  of  Property,  North  of  59th  Street,  and  West  and 
North  of  the  Central  Park,  are  regarded  as  members  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. They  are  requested  to  give  notice  of  their  names,  address- 
es and  the  location  of  their  property  to  the  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  papers  of  the  Association, 
personal  notice  of  its  meetings,  and  of  other  matters  that  may 
concern  them. 


The  Meeting  on  the  8th  of  February,  1871,  was  opened 
by  the  President,  who  said: 

Gentlemen  : 

There  is  no  subject  more  important  to  us  than  the  Riverside 
Park,  and  it  is  at  present  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition. 

The  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assessment  were  ap- 
pointed in  September,  1868,  and  time  enough  has  passed  since 
then  for  their  report  to  have  been  completed  and  confirmed, 
and  the  actual  work  to  have  been  so  far  done  on  the  ground 
as  to  make  this  Riverside  a  park  in  fact,  Until  this  report  is 
confirmed  everything  is  uncertain ;  the  lines  and  grades  of  the 
streets  and  avenues  that  touch  it  and  the  future  use  and  value 
of  adjacent  property.  I  have  been  assured,  however,  within  a 
few  days  by  the  highest  authority,  that  the  work  of  the  Com- 
missioners, which  is  necessary  before  presenting  the  report, 
has  been  completed,  and  that  the  report  will  be  filed  without 
further  loss  of  time.  If  this  be  done  and  the  report  be  con- 
firmed, I  think  that  we  need  not  apprehend  any  needless  delay 
on  the  part  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks  in  the  work  of 
construction  and  ornamentation. 

The  Broadway  widening,  a  subject  of  importance,  as  it  is  the 
avenue  of  approach  to  the  west  side,  is  attracting  attention, 
and  it  needs  cool  consideration  and  sound  judgment. 

The  act  for  the  widening  of  Broadway  from  Thirty-fourth  to 
Fifty-ninth  streets  was  passed  May  17,  1869.  Commissioners 
were  appointed,  and  their  report  was  confirmed  on  the  28th 
December,  1870.  Its  results  excited  public  comment.  A  bill 
for  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  1869  was  last  week  introduced  into 
the  Legislature,  and  is  now  pending  there  before  the  Senate. 
The  Commissiouers  of  the  Sinking  Fund  passed  resolutkms  on 
the  4th  February,  requesting  the  Mayor,  Alderrnen  and  Com- 


8 


monalty  to  adopt  and  take  all  legal  measures  to  set  aside,  or 
vacate,  or  repeal  the  proceedings  for  the  widening. 

This  action,  if  it  is  consummated,  will  have  two  consequences. 
It  will  not  only  vacate  the  proceedings  of  the  Commissioners 
and  the  results  which  have  followed  their  report,  but  it  will 
also  defeat  the  improvement  itself.  I  assume  here  that  the 
repeal  would  be  legally  effective,  although  there  is  a  very  seri- 
ous question  about  it,  If  it  were  not  done  in  such  a  way  liti- 
gation and  confusion  would  follow,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  a 
mistake  of  that  sort  will  be  made. 

As  to  the  results  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Commissioners 
there  is  room  for  all  varieties  of  opinions  and  interests.  Whether 
any  individual  takes  the  ground  that  the  area  of  assessment  is 
too  wide  or  too  narrow,  that  too  much  or  too  little  has  been 
charged  on  the  city,  that  the  amount  awarded  is  too  great  or 
not,  that  the  awards  have  been  relatively  equal  or  unequal ; 
each  will  find  some  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  repeal,  not 
to  be  thoroughly  dissatisfied  with  it,  provided  it  leaves  the 
improvement  to  go  on.  This  is  the  main  point — will  the  widen- 
ing itself  go  on,  and  that  without  delay,  by  a  new  proceeding  ? 
This  we  unite  in  asking ;  and  I  am  authorized  to  state  to  you 
that  the  gentlemen  who  introduced  and  favor  the  bill  for  repeal 
do  not  intend  to  defeat  the  widening.  It  has  gone  so  far  that 
it  is  destructive  to  property  interests  to  have  it  delayed.  When 
we  have  been  so  long  waiting  for  the  line  to  be  fixed,  and  so 
many  are  ready  to  build,  and  when  the  widening  at  some  time 
is  inevitable,  mere  uncertainty  is  destructive.  Whatever  be 
done  in  the  way  of  repeal,  we  want  to  secure  this  point,  and  I 
think  we  can  do  it,  and  perhaps  more.  I  suggest  to  you  the 
importance  of  a  reference  to  the  Executive  Committee  to  confer 
on  this  subject  with  the  Senators  and  Assemblymen  represent- 
ing this  city  in  the  Legislature. 


The  Keport  of  the  Executive  Committee  was  then  read,  in 
the  absence  of  the  Secretary,  Mr.  J.  F.  Euggles,  by  Mr.  Whit- 
beck,  as  follows  : 


9 


To  the  West  Side  Association. 
The  Executive  Committee  have  the  honor  to  report : 

That  the  subject  of  appropriate  names  for  the  new  Avenues, 
has  been  under  consideration  ;  that  it  has  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  several  gentleman  who  are  highly  competent  to  inves- 
tigate it,  and  that  it  has  been  thought  best  to  retain  the  sub- 
ject in  its  present  shape,  until  the  March  meeting,  in  order  to 
secure  a  more  complete  consideration  on  so  important  a  subject. 

The  Resolutions  of  the  January  meeting,  in  reference  to  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  improvements  on  the  West  Side, 
have  been  communicated  to  the  Mayor,  the  Counsel  to  the 
Corperation,  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Works,  and  to  the 
Department  of  Public  Parks,  but  no  answer  from  either  of 
them  has  been  received. 

The  Committee  also  recommend  the  passage  of  the  following 
resolutions  :  the  first,  in  reference  to  the  improvement  of  the 
Eighth  Avenue,  and  the  second,  in  reference  to  the  completion 
of  the  new  Boulevards,  &c. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  exemption  of  mortgages  from  taxa- 
tion they  have  prepared  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature,  and 
have  taken  measures  to  procure  signatures  thereto. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES, 

Secretary . 

New- York,  6th  February,  1871. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas.  The  public  interests  require  the  speedy  comple- 
tion of  the  Boulevard,  streets,  roads  and  avenues,  and  the  lay- 
ing out,  construction  and  improvement  of  the  Public  Parks  and 
Places,  which  by  law  now  are  or  may  hereafter  be  under  the 
control  and  management  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks  : 
And, 

Whereas.  It  is  desired  that  the  City  should  furnish  buildings 
for  an  Astronomical  and  Meteorological  Observatory,  a  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History  and  Gallery  of  Art,  Historical  Library 
and  Museum,  and  a  Conservatory  :  And, 


10 


Whereas.  Sufficient  funds  for  such  purposes  cannot  be  pro- 
vided without  resort  to  present  taxation,  except  bj  an  issue  of 
city  bonds :  And, 

Whereas.  The  present  owners  of  property  lying  contiguous 
to  said  improvements  have  already  borne  and  paid  heavy  as- 
sessments for  lands  taken  for  such  parks  and  places,  and  other 
improvements ;  and  inasmuch  as  it  is  expedient  and  proper, 
that  the  future  wealth  of  the  city  should  bear,  at  least,  a  por- 
tion of  the  cost  thereof :  therefore, 

Resolved.  That  the  West  Side  Association,  hereby  respect- 
fully requests  the  Legislature,  during  its  present  session,  to 
enact  a  law,  authorizing  and  directing  the  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  of  the  City  of  New-York,  to  create  and  issue 
a  public  fund  or  stock,  having  at  least  thirty  years  to  run,  to 
enable  the  City  Comptroller  to  provide  sufficient  funds  for  the 
speedy  and  immediate  improvement  and  completion  of  the 
Boulevard,  Avenues,  Public  Parks  and  places,  which  by  law 
are,  or  may  be  hereafter,  under  the  control  and  management 
of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  for  adapting  the  west  line 
of  the  Central  Park  to  the  new  grade  of  the  Eighth  Avenue, 
also,  for  the  erection  and  equipment  of  buildings  for  an 
Astronomical  and  Meteorological  Observatory,  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  Gallery  of  Art,  Historical  Library  and 
Museum,  and  a  Conservatory  on  the  Central  Park. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas.  The  owners  of  land  on  the  Eighth  Avenue,  front- 
ing the  Central  Park,  have  presented  a  petition  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  Public  Parks,  praying  said  Board  to  refrain  from  tak- 
ing into  the  park  walk,  the  fifteen  feet  width  of  the  roadway, 
which  by  ordinance  of  the  Common  Council  is  authorized  to  be 
taken  off  of  each  side  of  the  Avenue  :  and  also  praying  the  said 
Board  to  cause  so  much  of  the  Eighth  Avenue  Railroad  track, 
as  lies  opposite  the  Park,  to  be  placed  on  the  Easterly  side  of. 
the  roadway,  near  the  Park  walk. 

Now  therefore  Resolved.  That  this  meeting  approves  of  the 
prayer  of  said  petition,  and  respectfully  asks  the  said  Depart- 
ment to  make  the  changes  therein  asked  for. 

Resolved.  That  an  authenticated  copy  of  these  resolutions 
be  sent  to  the  Department  of  Public  Parks. 


11 

The  above  resolutions  reported  by  the  Executive  Committee, 
were  then  passed  unanimously. 

The  subject  of  the  Broadway  widening  was  referred  to  the 
Executive  Committee. 


Mr.  William  E.  Martin  then  spoke  as  follows  : 

Upon  the  subject  of  rapid  transit  there  are  two  positions 
fixed  in  the  public  mind — a  basis  and  a  point.  The  basis  is 
the  general  conviction  that  we  must  have  steam  transit  now : 
the  point  is  that  the  Broadway  underground  is  the  way  to  do 
it.  Between  these  there  is  a  debateable  ground,  filled  with 
questions  as  to  route,  plan  and  means  which  are  perplexing 
and  bewildering  many  men.  Over  this  debateable  ground  I 
propose  to  lay  a  track,  not  underground  nor  elevated,  but  a 
clear  level  track  of  argument,  and  run  a  train  of  thought  over  it 
to  this  point — a  Broadway  underground ;  so  as  to  connect  this 
general  demand  for  a  road  with  the  point  on  which  popular 
opinion  is  settling,  so  as  to  turn  this  popular  opinion  into  a 
conviction  that  will  have  inherent  force  in  it  to  stand  and  to 
move  of  itself. 

That  is  to  say,  I  propose  to  gather  up  these  threads  of  dis- 
course, all  these  various  lines  of  argument  which  are  in  favor 
and  against  everything  in  turn,  to  pull  these  lines  taut  and  tie 
them  in  a  knot.  I  propose  to  show  you  how  it  is  done,  and 
how  many  lines  will  break  in  the  process. 

I  have  certain  propositions,  which  I  suppose  will  command 
unanimous  assent. 

First — That  the  necessity  of  rapid  transit  is  immediate  and 
imperative. 

Secondly — That  the  power  to  decide  the  question  this  winter 
is  vested  in  the  State  Legislature. 

Thirdly — That  the  New  York  City  delegation  have  the  in- 
fluence in  the  Legislature  to  procure  a  decision,  and  they 
ought  to  do  it. 


12 


Fourthly — That  within  the  past  ten  years  enterprise  and 
capital,  unrestricted,  have  multiplied  traveling  facilities  by 
steam  to  leave  New  York  for  New  Jersey  and  Long  Island. 

Fifthly — That  this  island  is  the  only  place  where  legal  re- 
strictions have  been  imposed  on  transit  by  steam. 

Sixthly — That  the  people  on  this  island  are  as  fully  entitled 
as  any  people  to  rapid  transit  to  and  fro  by  steam. 

Seventhly — That  capital  and  enterprise  ought  to  be  free  to 
construct  such  a  road  for  the  people,  under  such  restrictions 
only  as  are  necessary  for  the  safety  of  other  municipal  interests. 

Fightly — That  the  question  of  construction  is  divided  into 
three  branches  :  First,  the  capital,  or  means  of  construction  ; 
second,  the  route  ;  third,  the  plan. 

Ninthly — That  in  respect  to  capital,  the  men  who  have  the 
enterprise  to  undertake  it,  and  will  put  in  their  money,  ought 
to  have  the  choice  of  the  route  and  plan,  with  reasonable  re- 
strictions to  protect  the  interests  of  others,  but  not  to  impede 
the  free  working  of  private  enterprise. 

Tenthly — That  the  public  credit  of  the  city  should  aid  in  the 
construction,  on  the  same  principles  on  which  such  aid  has 
been  given  to  the  bridge  to  Brooklyn. 

Eleventhly — That  in  respect  to  route,  even  if  a  border  rail- 
way be  constructed  along  the  river  side  in  connection  with  the 
public  wharves  and  docks,  there  ought  to  be  a  central  route 
on  or  near  Broadway  down  town,  and  up  town  branching  and 
running  one  line  east  and  the  other  wrest  of  the  Central  Park, 
and  both  branches  extending  to  the  Harlem  Biver. 

Tioelfthly — That  if  Broadway  be  the  route,  the  underground 
plan  is  the  best  one  adapted  to  that  line. 

Thirteenthly — That  if  a  route  be  chosen  on  one  side  of 
Broadway,  the  underground  or  the  viaduct  may  either  be 
adopted  as  the  plan. 

Now,  I  regard  this  subject  of  rapid  transit  as  one  upon  which 
the  public  mind  has  been  so  exercised  that  these  propositions 
will  be  accepted  as  indisputable  ;  and  these  propositions  bring 


13 

us  down  to  the  consideration  of  the  exact  point  :  What  is  ab- 
solutely the  best  way  to  get  at  the  result?  Where  is  this  road 
to  run  ?    What  shall  be  the  plan,  and  how  shall  it  be  built? 

That  is,  are  we  not  ready  to  decide  these  questions  now,  to 
give  a  unanimous  voice  now,  a  decision  on  these  questions 
which  have  been  discussed  fully  for  this  the  sixth  winter.  Of 
all  the  plans  of  underground  or  elevated  roads,  on  Broadway  or 
some  other  existing  streets,  or  on  some  new  street,  are  we  not 
ready  to  express  our  opinion,  and  to  put  grounds  under  it  so 
as  to  justify  the  adherence  to  it  of  a  general  public  sentiment. 

The  propositions  I  put  before  you  in  this  light  are  these  : 
That  Broadway  is  the  best  route  ;  that  the  underground  is  the 
best  plan  ;  and  that  the  City  credit  should  aid  the  construction 
of  it. 

It  is  a  fair  estimate  of  the  present  state  of  the  discussion  to 
say  that  the  underground  on  Broadway,  a  viaduct  on  one  side 
of  it  through  the  blocks,  or  on  a  new  avenue,  and  some  of  the 
iron  elevated  or  suspended  inventions  on  an  existing  avenue 
other  than  Broadway,  are  the  projects  that  are  dividing  public 
judgment.  Of  all  these  which  is  the  best  and  most  practicable 
now? 

I  am  not  going  into  the  discussion  of  engineering  difficulties. 
I  assume  that  in  all  the  plans  there  are  difficulties  and  obstacles 
to  be  overcome,  and  that  they  can  be  overcome.  I  caution 
you  against  being  misled  by  the  style  of  argument  which 
places  the  difficulties  of  one  plan  in  contrast  with  the  ad- 
vantages of  another  plan.  By  such  a  partial  method  your 
judgment  may  be  warped  in  any  direction.  I  propose  to  you 
to  assume  that  each  of  these  plans  is  practicable  ;  that  each 
has  advantages  and  none  obstacles  which  are  insurmountable  ; 
and  to  attempt  the  solution  of  the  problem  on  more  general 
principles. 

I  take  it  to  be  absolutely  true  that  Broadway  is  the  best 
route,  and  for  the  reason  that  it  is  the  natural  thoroughfare 
on  which  people  want  to  travel,  are  induced  to  travel,  and  will 
travel  if  it  will  accomodate  them.  The  men  who  hold  in  their 
h'ands  the  capital  requisite  to  build  a  road  on  any  plan  would 
choose  Broadway  as  the  route,  if  they  were  free  to  choose. 
No  other  route  is  considered  for  a  moment,  except  on  the 


14 


conclusion  that  the  plan  is  not  adapted  to  Broadway,  and  that 
this  route  is  not  attainable. 

It  is  precisely  on  this  view  that  the  notion  of  the  viaduct, 
as  it  is  termed,  started.  If  Broadway  cannot  be  had,  then 
the  next  best  thing  is  a  route  near  by  Broadway,  and  on  such 
a  route  there  would  be  no  necessity  to  restrict  the  plan  to  an 
underground  road,  and  so  a  viaduct  would  be  well  adapted 
and  practicable.  Here  all  the  advantages  of  an  elevated 
structure  of  mason-work,  crossing  the  street  on  high  bridges,, 
come  up  to  the  top.  There  is  no  man  now  who  advocates  the 
viaduct  who  would  not  concede  that  Broadway  is  the  best  route, 
if  the  viaduct  plan  were  adapted  to  that  route,  and  the  viaduct 
looms  up  as  the  best  plan  on  a  route  which  admits  of  it  as  well 
as  the  underground  ;  that  is,  on  a  route  which  admits  both. 
plans  the  arguments  for  the  viaduct  have  great  convincing 
force. 

In  this  discussion  I  claim  to  be  a  friend  of  the  viaduct  plan, 
and  to  have  no  prejudices  against  it.  The  first  full  and  com- 
prehensive outline,  description  and  argument  for  the  viaduct 
plan  through  the  blocks  appeared  in  The  World  on  the  6th  of 
January,  1866,  five  years  ago.  It  was  the  first  exposition  of  that 
plan — except  preliminary  sketches — that  appeared  in  print. 
The  plan  calledthe  three-tier  plan,  and  that  to-day  known  as  the 
viaduct  plan,  present  no  advance  in  the  ideas  of  that  article,  im- 
provement in  the  plan,  or  broader  basis  of  argument.  But  when 
you  pass  to  a  full  consideration  of  the  viaduct  plan  you  meet 
with  an  objection  which  has  made  a  strong  impression  upon 
the  public  judgment.  It  is  the  same  objection  that  killed  the 
three-tier  plan  so  summarily  three  years  ago,  when  it  passed 
the  Assembly  with  only  one  vote  against  it  and  failed  to  get 
a  single  vote  in  its  favor  in  the  Senate.  It  is  that  a  road 
twenty-five  or  forty  feet  wide,  on. which  two  or  four  tracks  were 
laid  on  masonry,  at  an  elevation  of  twenty  to  twenty-five  feet 
above  the  street  level,  with  trains  of  cars  constantly  running 
over  them,  would  be  disagreeable  to  those  who  occupied  the 
residences  and  stores  immediately  adjoining,  and  would  de- 
preciate such  property.  It  was  this  objection,  taking  shape 
and  expression  in  a  great  meeting  and  movement  of  property- 
owners,  that  killed  the  three-tier  bill. 


15 


Now,  I  pass  by  other  questions  in  regard  to  the  viaduct  plan, 
assuming  nothing  against  it,  and  fixing  your  attention  on  this 
because  it  is  the  objection  which  is  effective,  and  because  it  has 
been  made  the  step  to  another  advance  in  the  idea  of  a  road 
on  this  plan. 

This  advance  has  been  attributed  to  Governor  Hoffman,  and 
it  has  been  made  the  basis  of  a  new  project  recently  introduced 
into  the  Legislature. 

The  objection  that  property  adjacent  to  the  viaduct  along 
its  line  would  be  depreciated  is  to  be  overcome  by  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  plan  that  will  result  in  a  benefit  to  the  property — 
that  is,  give  that  property  the  advantages  of  being  on  a  main 
thoroughfare.  Make  the  road  with  room  on  each  side  of  it, 
for  this  property  to  front  on  and  benefit  by  the  immense  traffic 
and  travel  on  the  line  ;  make  a  new  avenue,  150  feet  wide,  with 
this  road  through  the  centre  of  it.  The  language  attributed 
to  Governor  Hoffman  is ;  and  it  is  true,  whether  he  said  it  or 
not : 

I  think  the  best  plan  to  meet  the  wants  of  all,  would  be  a 
grand  railroad  avenue,  say,  150  feet  in  width,  from  one  end  of 
the  island  to  the  other,  through  which  could  be  run  an  elevated 
railway  built  on  solid  masonry.  The  property  in  the  neigh- 
borhood would  not  lose  by  it,  I  think,  for  it  would  naturally 
become  the  great  thoroughfare  of  the  city.  There  would  be 
room  for  many  other  things  besides  railways  in  that  avenue. 
But  this  plan  has  many  difficulties,  like  all  others.  It  would 
cost  a  great  deal. 

Now  the  great  fundamental  fact  that  justifies  the  laying  out 
of  such  a  new  avenue,  and  its  hundreds  of  millions  of  cost  is 
this,  that  it  would  become  the  great  thoroughfare  of  the  city, 
and  increase  the  value  of  property  fronting  on  and  adjacent  to 
it,  because  the  greatest  thoroughfare  on  this  island  will  build 
up  the  greatest  value.  Why  not,  therefore,  take  an  existing 
avenue  without  cost,  instead  of  a  new  avenue  at  great  cost  and 
benefit  that  ?  Why  not  take  the  Third  or  Fourth  Avenue,  and 
extend  them  southerly  to  connect  with  Centre  street  to  the 
park,  and  let  them  reap  the  great  benefit ;  or,  on  the  west  side, 
the  Ninth  Avenue  and  Hudson  street  ?    The  argument  is  con- 


16 


elusive  that  the  viaduct  is  most  free  from  objection,  ceases  to 
depreciate  property,  and,  on  the  contrary,  enhances  it,  when 
it  has  not  a  narrow  line,  but  runs  on  an  avenue  wide  enough 
to  accomodate  it  and  the  other  uses  of  a  thoroughfare.  It  is 
equally  conclusive,  that  it  is  better  to  take  an  existing  avenue 
and  widen  and  extend  it,  if  necessary,  and  benefit  it,  rather 
than  at  great  cost,  to  make  a  new  avenue,  and  by  the  competi- 
tion injure  existing  avenues. 

And  I  submit  to  you,  that  this  also  establishes  conclusively 
that  this  rapid  transit  ought  to  be  upon  an  existing  avenue, 
and  that  it  will  greatly  benefit  such  an  avenue.  It  proves  the 
coincidence  of  two  main  things — great  travel  and  a  great  thor- 
oughfare. It  proves  that  you  cannot  separate  them.  It  proves 
that  Broadway  is  the  best  route  for  rapid  transit.  It  brings  us 
back  to  the  point  from  which  we  started.  Broadway  is  the 
best  route,  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  unattainable.  The  next 
best  plan  leads  to  an  avenue  beside  and  near  by  Broadway. 
This  will  become  a  great  thoroughfare,  and  take  travel  away 
from  Broadway,  the  sole  condition  on  which  its  greatness  de- 
pends. Why  should  not  this  travel  be  concentrated  on  Broad- 
way and  its  accommodation  for  it  enlarged  ?  There  is  no 
reason. 

This  prominence  is  given  to  the  question  of  route,  because 
it  is  the  controlling  question.  If  Broadway  could  be  had,  no 
one  would  build  up  on  any  other  route.  No  one  will  build  up 
on  any  other  side  route,  while  there  is  a  chance  that  Broadway 
may  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  opposition  company.  If  Broad- 
way is  the  route,  that  determines  the  plan.  The  underground 
is  the  plan  best  adapted  to  Broadway,  and  it  is,  in  all  respects, 
adequate  and  sufficient  as  a  plan.  It  meets  the  requirements 
for  accommodating  the  travel.  If  Broadway  is  the  route, 
there  is  no  trouble  about  the  capital  to  back  it.  The  best 
route,  and  an  adequate  plan  which  costs  less  rather  than  more 
than  the  competing  plan — the  viaduct — very  much  less— are 
the  very  conditions  which  suit  the  men  of  capital,  the  very 
conditions -on  which  capital  undertakes  enterprises. 

This  meets  the  very  point  put  to  us  a  few  evenings  since  by 
the  Mayor.  He  asked  for  that  test  of  the  soundness  and 
practicabillity  of  any  plan  to  distinguish  it  from  chimerical  pro- 


17 


jects.  The  criticism  is  a  perfectly  fair  one.  It  falls  upon  the 
gentlemen  who  are  connected  with  the  proposed  roads  to  give 
the  public  and  the  Legislature  the  requisite  assurances  on  this 
point.  I  presume  the  Broadway  underground  men  would  take 
the  privilege,  on  condition  that  the  capital  was  subscribed 
forthwith.  It  is  for  us  to  state  the  general  principles  on  which 
the  movements  of  capital  are  known  to  depend,  and  we  can 
form  correct  estimates.  The  enterprise  must  have  the  best 
route,  a  plan  comparatively  of  low  cost,  one  practicable  and 
profitable  to  move  capital,  and  these  conditions  are  better 
met  by  the  Broadway  underground  than  by  any  other  road. 

I  shall  accomplish  my  object,  therefore,  if  I  can  satisfy  you 
that  Broadway  is  the  best  route  ;  and  by  Broadway,  I  mean 
Broadway  below  Union  or  Madison  Square ;  for  at  one  of 
those  points,  the  road  should  branch  and  go  up  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Park,  on  the  Fourth  or  Madison  Avenue  line,  and 
on  the  west  side  follow  the  line  of  Broadway.  On  these  up- 
town routes  there  is  but  little  controversy. 

It  is  the  best  route  in  view  of  the  public  interests,  and  in 
view  of  the  best  interests  of  the  Broadway  owners  themselves. 
An  underground  road  on  Broadway  fits  in  best  with  the 
necessary  system  of  city  transit,  and  there  are  no  sound  argu- 
ments against  the  use  of  Broadway  for  an  underground  road. 

Broadway  belongs  to  the  people,  and  not  to  the  owners  of 
property  fronting  on  it ;  and  the  very  reason  that  their  pro- 
perty is  valuable,  is  that  it  belongs  to  the  people,  and  the  peo- 
ple use  it.  The  people  of  this  City,  the  people  of  the  State, 
the  people  of  this  generation,  and  the  people  of  the  next  cen- 
tury intend  to  use  it,  and  will  use  it ;  they  have  a  right  to 
have  it  accommodated  to  their  use.  The  contour  and  form  of 
the  island  have  made  it  the  natural  thoroughfare;  from  the 
lowest  point,  the  Battery,  it  pursues  a  straight  line  to  Union 
Square,  where  the  island  attains  its  great  width,  midway  be- 
tween the  two  rivers  :  northward  it  inclines  to  the  westward, 
still  for  two  miles  continuing  to  be  the  most  central  avenue  of 
the  island.  When  it  was  laid  out  it  was  a  law  unto  itself ;  it 
was  constrained  by  no  preconceived  plan,  and  was  put  where 
it  was  wanted.  When  to  accommodate  the  millions  who  traverse 
it,  and  who  intend  to  traverse  it  and  not  another,  the  people 


18 


want  its  capacity  increased,  its  capacity  will  be  increased  ; 
and  the  owners  will  have  just  the  same  right  to  resist  that 
other  owners  have  when  people  determine  to  take  their 
property  for  the  public  use.  and  no  more.  Their  right  to  re- 
sistance is  stiffened  by  the  fact  that  their  property  is  not  taken 
away,  but  increased  in  value.  They  may  resist  on  that  ground, 
as  the  owners  on  the  Hudson  Paver  shore  did,  twenty  years 
ago,  when,  by  the  construction  of  a  railroad,  it  was  proposed 
to  turn  their  waste  hill-sides  into  villages  of  lots  worth  thou- 
sands of  dollars  each.  It  is  doing  them  no  injustice  to  say 
that  their  right  to  resist  a  benefit  is  limited  by  the  same  rules 
which  limit  the  risht  of  other  owners  to  resist  the  destruction 
of  their  property.  When  the  people  demand  this  improve- 
ment, then  it  is  just  for  the  Legislature  to  say  that  it  shall 
be  done. 

The  true  interests  of  the  owners  of  property  on  Broadway 
require  a  road  on  Broadway.  "Why  is  Broadway  property  now 
more  valuable <han  any  other?  On  what  sole  condition  does 
this  high  value  depend  ?  When  Broadway  did  not  extend  be- 
yond Canal  street,  and  the  wealthy  population  who  resided 
up  town,  were  settled  along  East  Broadway  and  St.  John's 
Square,  Hudson  street  and  Chatham  street  approached  or 
equaled  it  in  value.  But  when  the  wealthy  population,  the 
population  who  spent  the  most  money  in  retail  trade,  went  up 
Broadway  and  settled  along  from  Bond  street  to  Union  Square 
the  change  began.  Now  the  line  of  upper  Broadway  and  the 
Fifth  Avenue,  which  leads  into  it,  are  the  branches  where  this 
sort  of  population  swarms.  They  do  not  live  along  Second 
Avenue  and  travel  up  and  down  the  Bowery,  nor  along  Eighth 
Avenue  and  travel  up  and  down  Hudson  street.  In  the  near 
future  the  line  of  Fifth  Avenue,  and  its  borders  along  the  east 
side  of  the  Park,  are  being  filled  up  with  this  population ;  and 
New-York  will  not  stop  there.  The  West  Side  will  then  nil  up 
with  a  population  as  much  in  advance  of  what  we  call  Fifth 
Avenue  elegance  as  it  surpasses  the  glories  of  St.  John's 
Square.  It  will  accommodate  more  on  an  equal  area  than  any 
other  section  of  elegant  residences  ;  for  the  style  of  French 
hotels  for  family  accommodation,  palaces,  will  prevail  there. 
What  will  be  the  result  ?    On  the  West  Side  there  will  be  gath- 


19 


ered  a  million  or  more  of  that  class  of  city  population  who 
spend  the  most  money — that  is,  who  buy  the  most  at  the 
Broadway  stores,  who  enable  the  tenants  to  pay  the  highest 
rents,  who  incite  the  erection  of  the  most  splendid  stores,  and 
who  give  the  maximum  value  to  Broadway  property. 

The  future  value  of  Broadway  property  depends  on  this, 
and  on  nothing  else.  If  this  money-spending  population  is  to 
be  carted  over  totHempstead  Plains  and  the  West  Side  is  to  be 
filled  with  tenement  houses,  it  is  in  Broadway  values  that  you 
will  see  the  difference.  If  within  five  years  this  million  of  pop- 
ulation could  be  settled  on  the  West  Side  and  made  to  travel  on 
Broadway,  Broadway  property  below  Fifty-ninth  street  would 
be  increased  in  value  in  proportion,  and  it  would  become  the 
most  valuable  business  street  in  any  city  on  the  globe.  Broad- 
way at  Fifty-ninth  street  taps  the  West  Side,  as  at  the  spout  of 
a  funnel,  and  runs  down  the  island  on  the  very  best  route  to 
tap  every  valuable  avenue,  and  concentrate  everything  into 
itself.  It  is  the  true  interest,  therefore,  absolutely,  unques- 
tionably, and  without  the  possibility  of  an  exception  the  true 
interest  of  the  Broadway  property-owner  to  secure  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Fifth  Avenue  line,  and  of  the  West  Side  with  this 
wealthiest  population  ;  to  gather  them  in  from  all  the  suburbs, 
the  State,  the  country,  the  world  ;  to  force  them  to  settle  there, 
to  do  it  at  once,  without  wasting  a  day,  and  then  to  concen- 
trate the  whole  of  their  travel,  every  individual  of  it,  on  Broad- 
way. 

Now,  in  view  of  this  incontrovertible  statement  of  their  true 
interest,  what  do  we  find  them  doing :  The  bulk  of  them  see  it 
with  both  eyes  open,  but  a  few,  a  diminishing  few,  with  the 
average  intellect  of  a  dry  goods  merchant,  and  not  a  Yankee  at 
that — a  few  of  them  persist  in  keeping  back  up-town  improve- 
ments. They  talk  of  the  West  Side  as  a  wilderness,  oppose  all 
plans  of  steam  transit,  and  insist  on  this  cardinal  point :  If  you 
will  have  a  railroad,  do  not  put  it  on  Broadway  ;  but  open  a 
new  avenue,  build  a  viaduct  on  a  new  avenue,  such  a  one  as 
Governor  Hoffman  says,  with  great  foresight,  will  necessarily 
become  the  great  thoroughfare  of  the  city. 

The  strongest  support  the  viaduct  is  receiving  tc-day  is  from 
the  Broadway  property-owners  who  are  determined  to  keep 


20 


the  line  of  rapid  transit  off  from  Broadway.  The  weak  point 
about  the  viaduct  and  the  side  route,  the  weak  point  as  capital 
looks  at  it,  is  that  in  time,  before  long,  the  Broadway  owners 
will  see  their  true  interests  and  go  through  that  tedious  pro- 
cess by  which  at  last  the  mind  of  average  dullness  reaches  the 
apprehension  of  the  obvious  ;  and  that  then  they  will  insist, 
long  before  a  viaduct  could  be  built,  insist  on  a  road  on  Broad- 
way. The  road  would  be  built,  and  the  competition  would  de- 
stroy the  faith  of  the  capitalist  in  the  viaduct.  The  viaduct 
has  this  peril  to  look  in  the  face  as  an  inevitable  destruction 
certain  to  overtake  it ;  for  as  soon  as  the  Broadway  owner  sees 
his  mistake,  with  the  same  utter  selfishness  which  impels  him 
now,  he  would  go  for  the  underground,  and  have  the  cars  run- 
ning before  the  viaduct  had  acquired  the  title  to  its  land.  It 
is  not  possible  now  to  make  a  guarantee  that  there  never  shall 
be  a  road  under  Broadway,  and  capital  can  never  get  in  a  via- 
duct perfect  security  against  a  competition  which  is  sure  to  be 
successful — and  that  is  the  worst  difficulty  for  capital  to  en- 
counter. 

The  principal  objection  to  the  route  on  Broadway,  apart  from 
the  engineering  difficulties,  which,  as  I  said,  I  am  not  attempt- 
ing to  discuss,  is  that  they  will,  by  the  construction  of  the 
road,  be  temporarily  obstructed  in  the  occupation  of  their  pro- 
perty. But  it  has  been  three  times,  within  a  few  years,  ob- 
structed for  weeks  and  months  at  a  time,  by  new  pavements — 
the  Buss  pavement,  the  Belgian  pavement,  and,  recently,  the 
present  pavement.  Each  improvement  was  followed  by  in- 
creased travel,  which  compensated  for  the  obstruction.  This 
temporary  inconvenience  is  always  to  be  endured  when  the 
benefit  that  results  more  than  compensates  for  it.  I  know  it  is 
hard  to  ask  some  of  them  to  think  so  much,  but  still  it  is  not 
beyond  the  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  compass  it.  I  will 
give  them  a  familiar  and  easy  illustration.  As  soon  as  high 
rents  compel  them  to  calculate  the  advantages  of  pulling  down 
their  old  stores  and  building  up  new  and  modern  ones,  and 
they  see  it,  they  make  a  willing  sacrifice.  They  undergo  all 
the  trouble  of  building,  all  the  inconvenience  to  themselves 
and  their  neighbors  of  blockaded  sidewalks,  new  sewers,  dirt, 
noise  and  confusion,  the  total  interruption  of  business  and 


21 


the  total  loss  of  one  or  two  years'  rent,  and  put  up  these  fine 
buildings  which  rent  for  four  times  as  much  as  the  old  ones, 
and  then  enter  into  the  enjoyment  of  their  profits.  This  answers 
completely  their  argument  of  temporary  inconvenience.  The 
construction  of  a  road  would  not  subject  them  to  one- tenth  of 
the  loss  and  inconvenience  they  willingly  undergo  in  erecting 
a  new  building,  wrhile  it  would  greatly  increase  their  profits. 
But  they  cannot  see  this  ;  they  cannot  discern  the  inestimable 
benefits  that  would  accrue  to  them  if  Broadway  should  become 
the  channel  of  the  travel  of  a  continent,  and  the  greatest  thor- 
oughfare of  money-spending  people  in  the  w7hole  world.  They 
can  see  dimly  that  the  present  measure  of  the  value  of  their 
property  is  that  Broadway  is  beginning  to  be  such  a  channel. 
But  they  cannot  understand  that  the  reason  why  Broadway 
has  made  them  millionaires,  and  thus  made  their  opinions  of 
some  consequence,  is  that  travel,  the  best  travel,  is  concentrated 
on  it,  and  that  their  true  policy  is  to  concentrate  it  there  and 
not  allow  it  to  be  diverted ;  to  hold  on  to  it,  and  give  it  every 
possible  facility  and  increase  of  accommodation.  On  the  con- 
trary, now  that  the  street  is  crowded  to  its  capacity  they  set 
themselves  to  work  to  prevent  any  increase  of  its  capacity  and 
its  travel,  and  to  accommodate  that  necessary  increase  on  a 
new  thoroughfare  out  of  Broadway.  The  Broadway  owners 
alone  can  create  a  succeessful  rival  against  themselves. 

The  true  plan  for  the  relief  of  Broadway  is  very  simple  j  and 
this  ought  to  be  framed,  printed  in  letters  of  gold  and  hung 
up  over  every  counter  along  Broadway.  The  true  plan  of  re- 
lief is  to  divert  from  it  the  travel  that  does  not  belong  to  it,  and 
to  concentrate  upon  it,  heap  up  and  accommodate,  the  travel 
that  does  belong  to  it  and  does  benefit  it.  Up-town  there  are  on 
the  east  side,  along  the  Second  and  Third  avenues,  and  on  the 
West  Side,  along  the  Seventh  and  Eighth  avenues,  residence 
sections,  distinct  from  the  Central  or  BroadwTay  residence  sec- 
tion in  this,  that  they  do  not  spend  so  much  money  nor  trade 
so  much  on  Broadway.  If  the  Third  avenue  were  extended  to 
Centre  street  and  the  Sixth  avenue  to  West  Broadway,  or,  by 
other  improvements,  distinct  avenues  were  made  from  down- 
town below  the  Park,  diverging  from  Broadway — one  leading 
to  the  east  side  residence  section,  and  the  other  leading  to 


22 


the  West  Side  residence  section — they  would  form  natural  thor- 
oughfares for  the  travel  which  belongs  to  them.  If  they  were 
as  well  paved  as  Broadway  they  would  draw  off  from  it  many 
of  the  four-horse  heavy  trucks,  like  ships  on  wheels,  and  other 
traffic.  These  do  not  benefit  Broadway — they  use  it  for  want 
of  better  and  more  direct  lines  of  travel.  "We  are  still  suffer- 
ing down-town  from  a  colonial  system  of  laying  out  streets,  as 
intolerable  as  it  would  be  if  the  colonial  civil  government  were 
still  over  us — laid  out  without  reference  to  a  great  resident 
population  above  Fourth  street.  When  the  city  above  Fourth 
street,  marked  by  the  numbered  streets  and  avenues,  was  laid 
out,  by  an  inconceivable  blindness,  not  an  avenue,  except  the 
Third  and  Fourth,  was  made  to  connect  with  any  down-town 
thoroughfare,  so  that  the  travel  is  all  forced  into  Broadway  as 
the  only  natural  direct  and  well-paved  thoroughfare.  Then 
upon  Broadway  should  be  concentrated  the  travel  of  the  cen- 
tral residence  section  which  borders  on  it,  with  no  rival  side 
thoroughfare,  and  every  facility  should  be  given  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  upper  part  of  the  island,  along  Fifth  avenue  and 
upper  Broadway ;  and  its  capacity  should  be  increased  to 
accommodate  this  travel  by  every  modern  invention,  including 
the  underground  road. 

It  is  inevitable  that  this  wealthy  population  will  some  day 
settle  upon  the  West  Side,  they  will  come  down-town  and  go  up 
every  day  as  we  do,  and  they  will  walk  less  and  ride  more.  If 
their  railway  is  on  Broadway,  they  will  be  habituated  to  Broad- 
way and  to  its  stores,  and  they  will  walk  short  distances  on  it 
but  if  this  great  travel,  greater  in  amount  than  we  have  any 
idea  of,  and  much  greater  in  proportion,  because  the  distance 
will  be  too  great  to  walk  down  Broadway  as  we  do,  and  riding 
will  become  universal ;  if  this  travel  is  on  a  new  route  out- 
side of  Broadway,  it  will  become  familiar  and  Broadway  will 
be  forgotten.  The  viaduct  line  will  destroy  the  adjacent  pro- 
perty for  residences,  and  the  property  will  come  to  business 
uses ;  these  uses  will  fatten  on  the  travel ;  the  adjacent  pro- 
perty-owners will  encourage  and  accommodate  it,  whether  the 
viaduct  is  on  a  new  thoroughfare  or  simply  on  its  own  narrow 
property  line.  There  will  be  stopping  places  at  almost  every 
street  crossing,  these  will  be  thronged  with  travelers,  the  travel 


23 


will  make  trade  and  high  rents  and  values.  Property  will  be 
improved,  and  fine  buildings  erected  ;  and  in  the  new  order  of 
things  Broadway  will  cease  to  be  the  natural  thoroughfare  for 
the  whole  island,  cease  to  serve  the  people  who  live  up-town, 
abreast  of  the  Park  on  either  side.  It  will  lose  its  supremacy, 
everything  gained  by  its  rival  will  be  at  its  expense,  and  it  will 
have  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  in  blindness  of  judgment  it 
has  sold  itself  out. 

I  shall  not  repeat  what  I  said  at  the  January  meeting  in  re- 
gard to  the  necessity  of  a  comprehensive  system.  It  is  not  a 
single  line  that  we  want,  but  a  system  that  will  regard  the 
southern  point  of  the  island  as  a  point  of  approach  and  de- 
parture, at  all  the  ferry  and  steamboat  landings  and  future 
bridges  and  tunnels,  where  the  travelers  are  to  be  gathered 
and  brought  together  to  the  down-town  distributing  point  at 
the  Park,  and  from  there  distributed  to  the  different  residence 
sections  and  points  of  up-town  railroad  and  steamboat  depar- 
ture. I  then  attempted  to  show  the  absolute  necessity  of  such 
a  system,  and  of  making  this  line  a  part  of  it ;  and  that  the  un- 
derground on  Broadway  would  fit  it  far  better  than  any  via- 
duct plan. 

It  will  be  clearly  seen  that,  in  giving  to  the  route  the  control 
of  the  question,  I  repel  any  argument  that  the  merits  of  any 
particular  plan  should  prevail  over  and  determine  the  route  ; 
for  instance,  that  the  viaduct  is  on  its  merits  the  best  plan,  and 
that  therefore  a  side  route  must  be  chosen,  and  not  Broadway, 
as  the  route  to  which  that  plan  is  applicable  ;  and  the  reasons 
why  are  clear.  As  between  the  two,  route  and  plan,  I  con- 
sider route  paramount  in  the  judgment  of  the  capitalist,  and 
this  judgment  is  clinched  by  the  fact  that  the  underground  re- 
quires the  least  capital. 

I  have  discussed  these  questions  without  any  personal  in- 
terest on  either  side,  and  without  any  prejudice.  I  have  dis- 
cussed them  on  principles,  and  on  grounds  of  public  interest, 
which,  whether  they  convince  you  or  not,  are  definitely  enough 
stated  to  be  refuted,  if  a)iy  one  can  refute  them.  ■ 

The  result  I  look  for  is  this.  We  want  rapid  transit  up-town, 
and  so  far  as  that  is  concerned,  we  will  accept  any  plan  and 
any  route.  But  we  have  a  further  duty.  We  must  illuminate 
the  subject,  and  shape  popular  opinion.    One  great  impediment 


24 


in  our  way  is  this — that  public  opinion  seems  to  be  divided, 
and  we  are  told  that  we  cannot  agree  upon  what  we  want.  I 
think  the  paramount  duty  of  the  day  is  this  :  to  unite  on  some- 
thing, and  to  push  that.  I  have  looked  at  it  in  this  light,  the 
light  in  which  I  have  presented  it  to  you.  Take  the  three  con- 
ditions, capital,  route,  and  plan.  On  general  principles,  which 
is  the  most  practicable,  the  most  certain,  the  best?  Let  us 
decide ;  let  us  urge  a  concentration  of  public  opinion ;  let  us 
sink  our  differences  about  details  in  our  agreement  upon  a  plan 
which  is  reasonably  good.  Practically,  the  question  is  narrowed 
down  between  the  viaduct  and  the  Broadway  underground. 
Surely  we  can  decide  between  them.  So  far  as  I  have  been 
enabled  to  judge  of  public  sentiment,  the  vast  preponderance 
is  in  favor  of  the  underground.  The  hold  of  the  viaduct  on  its 
supporters  is  that  the  underground  cannot  be  had,  and  that  it 
is  the  next  best ;  and  the  weakness  of  the  viaduct  is  that,  if 
the  underground  can  be  built,  the  viaduct  is  doomed.  "With 
this  preponderance  of  public  opinion  and  this  preponderance 
of  argument  on  general  principles,  I  urge  you  now,  as  a 
practical  question,  to  unite  on  the  underground  on  Broadway. 

I  do  not  for  one  moment  conceal  from  myself  the  serious 
question  there  is  remaining.  Can  a  bill  authorizing  the  under- 
ground on  Broadway  possibly  be  passed  against  the  opposi- 
tion of  the  property-owners?  and  if  it  cannot,  why  hazard  all 
by  going  for  that  alone?  I  answer  that  when  the  people  are 
united  in  asking  it,  it  can  pass  and  will  pass.  The  opposition 
of  the  owners  is  matter  of  history  now.  We  know  its  men  and 
its  arguments.  I  have  treated  of  its  arguments.  Perhaps  it 
is  not  saying  too  much  to  add  that  the  argument  relied  on  was 
the  personal  influence  of  one  man  and  of  those  who  acted  with 
him.  We  have  a  right  to  estimate  the  weight  due  to  this  per- 
sonal influence  and  the  effect  it  ought  to  have  in  opposition  to 
the  will  of  the  people. 

The  gentleman  who  is  the  leader  of  this  opposition  has  taken 
a  position,  over  and  over  again,  of  direct  antagonism  to  an 
underground  road  on  Broadway.  He  opposes  it  on  the  ground 
that  it  should  not  pass  by  his  property  nor  interrupt  his  use 
of  it.  With  a  magnanimity  only  equaled  by  Artemus  Ward, 
whose  patriotic  impulse  made  him  willing  to  sacrifice  all  his 


25 


wife's  relations  by  sending  them  into  the  army,  he  lends  his 
favor  to  the  road  provided  it  does  the  injury,  as  he  calls  it,  to 
some  other  street  and  some  other  men.  We  concede  to  him 
the  right  to  take  a  position  against  his  own  true  interests,  and 
to  assume,  falsely,  that  the  property-owners  on  Broadway  have 
any  rights  against  the  people ;  and  we  thus  take  him  on  his 
own  ground.  We  make  this  concession  because  men  trained 
by  long  business  experience  to  regard  exclusively  their  own 
personal  interests,  and  not  to  base  their  public  action  on  gen- 
eral principles  and  public  interests,  by  the  time  they  become 
millionaires  become  also,  in  many  cases,  incapable  of  taking 
a  complete  and  well-rounded  view  of  their  own  interests,  in- 
capable of  seeing  that  the  measure  that  serves  best  the  public 
interests  also  serves  best  their  own. 

We  are  not  going  beyond  our  proper  province  of  examining 
his  arguments  when  we  look  at  his  property  interests.  He 
has  made  a  purchase  of  land  at  Hempstead,  on  Long  Island, 
which  is  equal  in  area  to  all  the  unoccupied  space  on  Manhat- 
tan Island  ;  and  he  is  preparing  it  for  the  site  of  a  city.  His 
effort  to  make  population  settle  there  is  in  direct  competition 
with  our  effort  to  settle  this  island.  He  is  a  single  owner. 
We  are  numbered  by  tens  of  thousands  of  all  conditions.  He 
has  a  site  which  has,  for  two  centuries,  been  regarded  as  the 
least  desirable  in  the  whole  circuit  of  the  suburbs,  so  that  it 
was  well  sold  at  $50  the  acre.  We  have  a  site  that  has,  in 
every  respect,  the  greatest  number  of  natural  advantages,  and 
has  been  so  from. the  beginning.  The  settlement  of  our  region 
benefits  every  other  region,  and  every  trade  in  the  city ;  the 
settlement  of  his  depletes  the  city  of  population,  fat  tax-payers 
and  industry.  Our  region  is  in  the  best  line  of  natural  im- 
provement, along  the  borders  of  two  rivers,  along  main  trunk 
railroad  lines  leading  to  the  east,  north  and  west,  and  will 
growT,  if  we  can  only  get  to  it,  unaided  with  its  own  spontane- 
ous vital  force.  His  is  a  region  so  far  out  of  the  way  that 
no  one  ever  goes  through  it,  or  to  it,  except  for  that  express 
purpose ;  and  it  can  be  settled  only  by  force — that  is,  by  the 
forced  application  of  capital.  A  real  estate  man  readily  sees 
the  distinction  between  a  site  which  is  in  the  natural  course  of 
improvement,  and  one  which  is  far  away  from  it,  where  settle- 


26 


merit  has  to  be  attracted,  induced,  forced.  Twenty  years  ago 
the  effort  to  build  up  the  lower  end  of  the  Second  Avenue  into 
a  first  class  residence  section  was  an  illustration  of  the  forced 
application  of  capital,  as  contrasted  with  the  natural  flow  of 
all  the  elements  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  ;  and  the  result  is  one 
that  repeats  itself  everywhere  under  like  conditions.  He  needs 
a  railroad  to  reach  his  place,  and  we  need  one  to  reach  our 
land.  Would  he  not  regard  it  as  a  monstrous  injustice  if  we 
opposed  his  railroad,  and,  most  of  all,  if  we  did  it  on  the  ground 
that  one  of  us  had  a  farm  or  a  house  through  which  his  road 
would  cut?  And  yet  he  will  have  his  road,  and  also  do  his 
best  to  hinder  ours ;  because  it  is  evident  to  every  one,  that  if 
we  have  our  road,  and  bring  this  island  within  reach  of  settle- 
ment, the  population  which  for  five  years  past  has  been  flying 
away  in  every  direction,  will  return  to  the  island  ;  and  that  all 
the  money  spent  in  building  a  city  on  Hempstead  Plains  will 
establish  one  fact,  and  that  fact  alone,  that  capital  planted 
without  foresight  will  yield  no  harvest  of  profit. 

There  is  to-day  an  immense  amount  of  city  capital  and  en- 
terprise employed  in  this  suburban  building.  Its  effect  will 
not  be  damaging  to  down-town  business,  for,  as  the  suburban 
population  will  approach  the  city  down-town,  they  will  keep 
the  business  there,  and  retard  the  natural  tendency  of  the 
best  retail  business  to  follow  the  population  up  Broadway, 
so  that  we  may  as  well  recognize  clearly  the  fact  of  this  great 
rivalry  against  the  settlement  of  the  upper  wards  on  this  island, 
and  the  great  root  and  hold  it  has  in  the  personal  interests  of 
so  many  men  of  wealth.  We  have  nothing  to  say  impugning 
any  man's  motives,  but  a  view  of  any  man's  personal  interests 
furnishes  a  rule  to  judge  of  his  actions;  and  it  gives  us  the 
reason  for  closing  up  the  argument  against  him,  and  pressing 
before  the  people  that  the  public  interests  should  not  be  over- 
borne by  the  personal  interests  of  any  man  or  class  of  men. 


27 


Mr.  William  B.  Ogden  then  addressed  the  meeting  on  the 
same  subject  of  Rapid  Transit,  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  : 

In  accepting  your  invitation  to  attend  and  address  this  meet- 
ing on  the  subject  of  Rapid  Transit  through  the  City  of  New 
York  and  things  incident  thereto,  I  desire  to  confine  my  re- 
marks to  matters  of  fact  and  to  information  germane  to  that 
subject,  and  which,  so  far  as  I  am  able  properly  to  present, 
shall  aid  others  in  better  understanding  and  appreciating  the 
importance  of  such  a  means  of  transit  to  every  citizen  of  New 
York  and  of  the  country  adjacent,  and  to  all  frequenting  the 
city ;  and  especially  as  a  practical  man,  do  I  desire  to  set  forth 
and  impress  the  practicability,  advantage,  and  great  eco- 
nomical usefulness  and  necessity  of  some  way  of  rapid  transit 
through  New  York  and  into  the  regions  adjacent  to  it — to  all 
who  not  only  value  time  but  comfort,  and  to  all  who  desire  to 
add  to  the  value  of  their  property  in  and  out  of  the  city. 

For  near  a  quarter  of  a  century  past  I  have  been  constantly, 
intimately,  and  for  much  of  the  time  extensively  associated 
with  railways,  both  in  construction  and  operation.  And  in 
the  course  of  these  long  years  of  labor  and  effort,  I  have,  at 
different  periods  of  time,  encountered  almost  every  difficulty 
to  be  encountered  and  overcome  in  the  construction  of  an  un- 
derground railway  through  the  City  of  New  York.  It  is  nat- 
ural, therefore,  that  such  a  work  should  be  looked  upon  by 
me  as  of  easier  and  more  certain  accomplishment  under  proper- 
organization,  and  with  competent  engineers,  and  with  honest 
administration  than  may  appear  to  be  the  case  to  others  who* 
have  not  had  experience  in  such  matters,  or  given  their 
time  or  thoughts  to  it,  or  studied  the  character  and  features 
of  the  work  now  under  consideration,  or  compared  the  larger 
sum  of  its  usefulness  for  all  time  to  a  great  Metropolitan  city 
and  all  its  surroundings,  with  the  less  important  sum  of  its  cost. 

For  nearly  three  years  past,  and  until  recently,  I  have  been 
officially  connected  with  the  New  York  City  Central  Under- 
ground Railway  Company,  a  corporation  chartered  in  1868, 
and  which,  although  it  never  sought  under  its  former  managers 


28 


publicity  or  notoriety  through  the  press  or  otherwise,  except 
so  far  as  its  position  or  the  advancement  of  its  real  interests  and 
welfare  demanded,  and  although  for  reasons,  which  with  ref- 
erence to  the  future  it  may  be  well  to  know,  it  has  never  been 
able  to  advance  so  far  as  to  commence  the  construction  of  its 
railway  ;  still,  it  has  elaborately  investigated  the  merits  of  the 
question,  thoroughly  engineered,  studied,  calculated  and  re- 
ported upon  the  work,  its  character,  usefulness  and  cost,  and 
has  only  been  prevented  by  a  series  of  untoward  circumstances 
from  being  far  advanced  at  this  time  with  the  construction  of 
the  work. 

I  cannot  so  quickly  and  fully  acquaint  this  audience  with 
the  history  of  the  proceedings,  acts,  and  difficulties  of  the  New 
York  City  Central  Underground  Eailway  in  the  past,  perhaps, 
or  with  the  views  of  the  former  Board  as  to  the  future,  as  by 
reading  to  them  a  draft  of  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  re- 
cently, but  mainly  prepared  prior  to  the  still  more  recent  and 
almost  entire  changes  in  the  Board  of  Direction  of  that  com- 
pany, which  have  now  taken  place.  This  draft  of  a  memorial 
has  not  been  presented  to  the  Legislature  as  yet,  and  probably 
may  not  be  by  the  new  Board  of  Directors,  as  much  of  it  has 
reference  to  things  which  transpired  prior  to  the  membership 
of  many  of  them  ;  nevertheless  the  facts  and  information  which 
it  contains  may  be  useful  in  the  better  understanding  and  more 
intelligent  future  prosecution  of  this  great  work.  I  will  there- 
fore proceed  to  read  the  draft  of  the  memorial  alluded  to. 

"  To  the  Honorable  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

"  The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  New  York  City  Central  Un- 
derground Railway  Company,  having  originally  accepted  the 
trust  imposed  by  the  law  creating  said  corporation,  solely  for  the 
purpose,  and  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  aid  in  the  construc- 
tion of  some  method  of  rapid  transit  through  the  City  of  New 
York,  which  has  become  so  indispensable  to  its  people,  and  to 
all  doing  business  in  it,  look  upon  it  as  proper,  if  not  incum- 
bent upon  them  to  report  to  your  Honorable  Body  the  efforts 
they  have  made,  the  obstacles  they  have  met  with,  the  convic- 
tions and  impressions  which  their  considerations  and  investi- 
gation of  the  subject  have  given  rise  to,  and  the  steps  which 
they  deem  important  to  secure  the  success  of  any  enterprise, 


29 


the  early  accomplishment  of  which  the  public  necessities  so 
urgently  demand. 

The  act  incorporating  the  New  York  City  Central  Under- 
ground Railway  Company  was  passed  April  17,  1868.  Al- 
though adequate  for  organization  under  it,  the  act  contained 
provisions  requiring  large  subscriptions  to  be  made  within  a 
short  period  of  time,  and  large  deposits  also  to  be  made  with 
the  Comptroller  of  the  State,  subject  to  forfeiture  in  case  of 
any  failure  of  the  Company  to  comply  with  the  rigid  provisions 
of  their  charter.  These  restrictive  requirements  of  the  charter 
made  it  impossible  to  obtain  capital  and  commence  work  under 
it.  The  Board  therefore  at  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature, 
ill  a  memorial  addressed  to  it,  set  forth  the  objectionable  fea- 
tures of  their  charter,  and  submitted  amendments  for  consid- 
eration and  adoption,  which,  if  passed,  they  believed  would 
enable  them  to  proceed  at  once  with  their  work,  These 
amendments  contain  two  essential  features — one  the  removal 
of  the  objectionable  restrictions  and  exactions  of  the  charter  ; 
the  other  granting  to  the  City  of  New  York,  the  County  of 
Westchester,  and  to  all  the  railways  terminating  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  the  right  to  aid  and  contribute  to  this  underground 
way  by  loans  or  by  subscription  to  its  stock  payable  in  their 
respective  bonds  or  otherwise. 

When  these  amendments  were  about  to  pass  the  Senate, 
just  at  the  end  of  the  session,  an  honorable  Senator,  not  aware 
of  the  fact  probably  that  the  railways  terminating  in  the  City 
of  New-York,  were  directly  and  greatly  interested  in  the  ex- 
tension of  their  line  into  the  heart  of  the  city,  by  means  of  this- 
proposed  underground  railway,  moved  to  strike  out  these  pro- 
visions for  aid  from  the  city  and  elsewhere,  on  the  ground  that 
railways  should  not  be  permitted  to  appropriate  their  funds 
outside  of  their  own  construction,  operation  and  ext»  nsion — 
their  extension,  more  perfect  operation  and  greater  usefulness 
to  the  public,  being  in  this  case  precisely  what  the  amendment 
proposed.  The  error  of  the  ground  of  the  objection  taken 
was  not  promptly  shown,  the  motion  to  strike  out  was  hurriedly 
carried,  it  w*as  too  late  in  the  session  to  explain  and  reinstate  it, 
and  the  work  of  accomplishing  a  wTay  of  rapid  transit  through 
the  City  of  New-York  h  is  probably  been  delayed  for  twro  years 
or  more  in  consequence.  The  Board  of  Directors,  however, 
although  failing  to  obtain  provisions  authorizing  the  aid  of  the 
City,  of  Westchester  County  and  of  railways,  were  relieved 
from  the  previous  objectionable  restrictions  of  the  charter,  and 
determined  to  complete  their  surveys,  estimates  and  prepara- 
tory work,  and  if  possible  to  commence  the  construction  of 
their  road,  without  the  aid  of  the  city,  although  of  the  impor- 


30 


tance  of  that  aid  they  are,  through  time  and  enlarged  experi- 
ence, more  and  more  convinced.  Able  engineers  of  distinction 
and  large  experience  were  engaged  to  examine  and  survey  the 
route,  and  estimate  the  cost  of  a  thoroughly  constructed  and 
well-equipped  double-track  road,  with  ample  side-tracks  and 
depot  accommodations,  and  with  liberal  and  complete  appoint- 
ments and  benefit  in  every  particular. 

In  October,  1869,  these  engineers  completed  their  examina- 
tions and  estimates,  and  submitted  their  very  able  and  satis- 
factory report,  showing  that  the  entire  cost  of  that  part  of  the 
road,  extending  from  the  City  Hall  to  the  new  Union  Depot  at 
Forty-second  to  Forty- sixth  street — about  three  and  a  half 
miles — would  not  exceed  in  round  numbers  $10,000,000,  in- 
cluding ample  provisions  for  contingencies,  being  a  little  less 
than  $3,000,000  per  mile  for  right  of  way,  construction,  contin- 
gencies, equipment,  depots,  and  all  complete  and  ready  to  run. 
This  sum  is  no  doubt  ample,  and  the  estimate  of  returns,  to 
he  expected  at  once  from  such  a  work  when  put  in  operation, 
based  upon  known  facts,  are  shown  in  the  engineer's  report  to 
be  about  twenty-two  per  cent,  net  per  annum.  The  mere  cost 
of  constructing  a  double  tunnel  railway  under  streets  in  which 
the  right  of  way  is  granted  will  not  of  itself,  including  an  al- 
lowance of  ten  to  fifteen  per  cent,  for  contingencies,  exceed 
$l,80i),000  per  mile.  The  right  of  way  is,  with  two  or  three 
exceptions,  granted  to  this  Company,  and  the  opening  and  ex- 
tension of  Madison  Avenue  to  Broadway  removes  the  most 
expensive  of  those  exceptions,  and  lessens  the  preceding  esti- 
mate of  cost  about  $1,000,000.  The  cost  of  adequate  depots, 
grounds  and  construction  of  commodious  depots,  and  of  thor- 
ough ventilation,  together  with  a  full-supply  of  cars  and  en- 
gines and  all  other  appointments  and  contingencies,  make  up 
the  balance  of  the  total  cost  of  $3,000,000  per  mile. 

At  the  time  this  report  of  the  engineers  was  submitted  to 
the  Board  of  Directors,  in  October,  1860,  the  project  known  as 
the  "  Arcade  "  plan  of  underground  railway,  had  the  attention 
of  the  public  to  a  large  extent,  and  was  received  with  so  much 
favor  for  the  time  being,  that  capitalists  hesitated  to  invest  in 
this  Company's  securities,  until  the  result  was  known  as  to 
the  passage  and  prospects  of  the  Arcade  plan  in  Broadway, 
and  this  occasioned  further  delay.  It  was  apparent  to  all  that 
a  railway  in  Broadway,  with  four  tracks  and  constructed  on 
the  Arcade  plan,  if  practicable,  would  provide  enlarged  means 
and  facilities  for  the  rapid  transit  of  passengers  and  freight, 
and  would  possess  many  advantages.  The  question  of  its  cost 
and  practicability  was  a  mooted  one,  about  which  there  was  a 
wide  difference  of  opinion  among  engineers  and  others,  many 


31 


believing  it  impracticable,  not  only  because  of  the  expense  its 
construction  would  involve,  but  because  of  the  opposition  of 
property-holders  on  Broadway,  from  apprehension  of  injury  to 
their  property ;  because  of  the  noise  of  constantly  passing 
trains  beneath  an  opened  covered  way,  acting  as  a  sounding 
board,  and  causing  reverberation ;  and  especially  because  of 
the  apparent  impossibility  in  a  covered  way,  open  at  the  sides 
next  the  buildings,  of  controling  any  smoke  or  gas  escaping 
from  the  passing  trains,  or  of  preventing  it  from  escaping  at 
these  open  sides,  and  immediately  in  contact  with  the  doors 
and  windows  of  the  valuable  stores  and  buildings  occupying 
Broadway,  to  their  great  annoyance  and  injury,  and  to  the 
constant  annoyance  also  of  the  people  passing  along  on  the 
sidewalks  of  that  great  thoroughfare.  Capitalists  also  looked 
upon  an  underground  railway  in  Broadway  as  a  superior  route 
as  a  competing  line  to  the  route  of  this  Company ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  this  Company's  route  should  be  built  and 
continue  to  be  the  only  line  of  quick  transit  between  Union 
Square  and  the  City  Hall  (which  time,  however,  would  prove 
to  be  undesirable,)  it  would  be  substantially  of  nearly  equal 
value  perhaps  with  a  line  in  Broadway. 

In  February  and  March,  1870,  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
New  York  City  Central  Underground  Railway  Company  be- 
came impressed  with  the  opinion  that  the  "  Arcade  bill "  as 
then  presented  to  the  Legislature,  contained  such  question- 
able provisions  that  its  construction  would  not  be  likely  to 
be  authorized :  they  therefore  proceeded  with  their  work, 
filed  their  route-map,  as  required  by  law,  continued  their  ne- 
gotiations, which  had  been  for  some  time  pending  with  Foreign 
and  with  American  parties,  looking  to  the  provision  of  the 
necessary  funds,  and  in  March  last  entered  into  a  contract  for 
the  construction  of  the  work  with  fair  promise  of  success. 
Unexpected  temporary  causes  of  delay  (not  affecting  the  merits 
of  the  question,  however)  intervened,  until  the  hot  weather  of 
the  past  summer,  followed  by  the  French  and  Prussian  war,  put 
an  end  to  the  further  progress  of  our  efforts  for  the  time  being. 
Meanwhile  the  usual  annual  crop  of  new  projects  for  rapid 
transit  through  the  City  of  New  York  are  being  presented  to 
the  public,  and  as  is  not  uncommon  with  new  schemes,  are 
more  or  less  popularly  received  for  the  time  being,  as  has  been 
the  case  in  years  past.  All  possible  projects  presented  for 
the  accomplishment  of  an  object  so  greatly  desired  and  needed 
are  entitled  to  favorable  consideration  and  comparison  as  to 
their  respective  merits. 

Among  those  of  more  or  less  merit  recently  presented  the 
**  viaduct  plan  "  of  Messrs.  Serrell  and  Eidlitz  is  one  of  high 


32 


character  and  merit,  and  is  a  very  effective  and  efficient  plan, 
and  at  first  view  will,  with  those  who  have  not  studied  and  in- 
formed themselves  as  to  its  relative  cost  and  advantages,  be 
likely  to  be  very  acceptable  and  popular.  Constructed,  it 
would  be  as  efficient  for  the  transit  of  passengers  and  freight 
as  any  other  uncovered  railway  with  the  same  number  of  tracks. 
Indeed  it  is  probably  the  best,  most  economical,  and  practical 
plan  for  a  viaduct  or  elevated  railway  yet  presented.  The  dif- 
ference between  it  and  the  underground  plan  would  be — first 
and  mainly,  its  greater  cost,  its  noise  and  jarring,  disturbance 
of  adjoining  property,  and  the  uncertainty  and  possible  enor- 
mity of  consequential  damages,  because  of  such  disturbance, 
rendering  adjacent  premises  uninhabitable  perhaps  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent,  unless  it  be  constructed  with  ample  open  space 
between  it  and  adjoining  property,  which,  if  secured,  would 
add  largely  to  the  cost  of  right  of  way ;  second,  the  greater 
liability  and  possibility  of  more  serious  accidents  upon  it  from 
ice  and  snow,  and  from  broken  rails  or  machinery  in  very  cold 
weather,  throwing  the  trains,  perchance,  off  from  the  greater 
height  of  an  elevated  track,  and  causing  far  more  serious 
injury  than  can  well  result  from  accidents  in  an  underground 
railway.  The  thorough  study  of  the  whole  question  of  quick 
transit  through  the  City  of  New  York,  for  nearly  three  years 
past,  by  many  of  the  older  members  of  the  Company,  and  by 
their  able  engineers  officially  connected  with  it,  led  them  by 
degrees  to  the  following  general  conclusions  in  regard  to  the 
best  practicable  method  of  early,  certain,  and  safe  quick  transit 
through  the  City  of  New  York,  at  the  least  cost,  and  with  as 
much  efficiency  and  capacity  as  any  other  practical  plan  yet 
laid  before  the  public,  to  wit : 

"  First — The  underground  railroad,  as  proposed  to  be  con- 
structed and  perfectly  ventilated  by  the  engineers  of  the  Com- 
pany, in  their  report,  will  be  more  easily  and  sooner  reached 
and  with  less  fatigue,  and  by  a  less  number  of  steps  (under 
cover)  desending  to  it  from  the  station-house  entrance  on  the 
level  of  the  street,  than  will  be  required  to  reach  an  elevated 
road  by  steps  ascending  to  it,  and  which  must  also  be  covered 
or  they  will  at  times,  be  slippery  and  dangerous. 

"  Second — The  cars  in  a  well-ventilated  underground  rail- 
way on  the  plan  of  this  Company,  and  without  any  surface 
openings  except  through  its  ventilating  chimneys,  with  '  suction 
blowers '  placed  on  the  sides  and  at  stations,  will  be  quite  as 
fresh,  as  brilliantly  lighted  with  gas,  and  as  comfortable  in 


33 


every  way  as  an  evening  parlor,  and  passengers  can  read  th en- 
newspapers  in  them  with  ease. 

"  Third — The  Underground  Kailway  will  never  be  extremely 
cold,  never  be  uncomfortably  warm,  never  wet,  never  dusty, 
consequently  it  will  be  likely  to  be  sought  in  preference  in  very 
cold,  in  very  hot,  or  in  hot  and  dusty  weather,  comprising  to- 
gether much  of  the  year. 

"  Fourth — The  underground  Railway  is  perfectly  safe  from 
contact  with  anything — nothing  can  cross  or  enter  it  save  its 
own  transit — and  as  a  separate  tunnel  for  up  trains  and 
another  for  down  trains  will  be  provided,  collisions  cannot 
happen. 

"  Fifth — Its  rails  and  machinery  will  always  be  protected 
from  severest  frost,  which  so  greatly  increase  the  danger  and 
number  of  accidents  upon  all  surface  or  elevated  roads  in  winter. 

"Sixth — The  underground  Eoad  will  be  surrounded  by  ma- 
sonry, will  be  covered  with  and  defended  by  earth,  filled  in 
between  its  masonry  and  the  surface  pavements  and  adjoining 
buildings.  Its  sound  and  vibrations  will  therefore,  be  thor- 
oughly deafened  and  deadened,  and  will  not  interfere  or  in- 
convenience the  street  over  it,  or  those  moving  or  living  upon 
it ;  nor  can  it  disturb  the  dwellings  on  either  side  in  any  way 
to  an  extent  subjecting  the  Company  to  consequential  damage 
on  that  account. 

"Seventh — The  entire  cost  of  a  double-track  underground 
railroad,  complete,  and  with  heavy  steel  rails  of  eighty  pounds 
to  the  yard,  and  fully  equipped  with  cars  and  engines  sufficient 
to  carry  230,000  passengers  daily,  equal  to  72,000,000  per 
annum,  which  is  about  23,000,000  less  than  the  number  car- 
ried by  the  horse  railroads  of  the  city  in  the  year  1868,  (and 
probably  about  half  what  is  now  carried  upon  the  city  horse 
railroads)  will  not  exceed  $3,000,000  per  mile.  It  involves 
no  engineering  doubt  or  difficulty  whatever.  Sewers,  water, 
and  gas  pipes  can  all  be  readily  adjusted  to  it,  and  without 
excessive  expense.  It  can  be  built  as  quickly  and  as  certainly 
as  an  elevated  or  other  railroad,  and  its  entire  cost  of  construc- 
tion to  completion,  with  full  equipment  and  outfit,  ready  to 
run,  will,  it  is  apprehended,  be  found  to  cost  less  than  an  ade- 
quate right  of  way  (or  a  lesser  right  of  way  and  consequential 
damages)  alone  will  cost  for  an  elevated  railway  through  blocks 
and  over  streets,  the  question  of  cost  between  these  two  plans 


34 


being  the  main  difference,  perhaps,  although  the  underground 
plan  is  believed  to  possess  other  advantages  of  a  decided  char- 
acter, as  hereinbefore  enumerated. 

"  In  order  to  overcome  all  objections  and  if  possible  to  se- 
cure the  general  co-operation  and  approval  of  the  public,  and 
concentrate  its  action  if  may  be,  in  aid  of  the  early  construc- 
tion of  some  efficient  method  of  quick  transit  through  the  City 
of  New  York,  this  Company  propose  to  ask  for  certain  needful 
amendments  to  their  charter,  which  they  beg  leave  herewith 
to  submit,  the  three  principal  features  of  which  amendments 
are : 

"  First. — A  provision  authorizing  the  City  of  New  York,  its 
railroads,  Westchester  County,  or  any  portion  of  it,  and  others, 
to  aid  in  the  construction  of  some  route  of  quick  transit,  through 
New  York  City,  if  they  shall  hereafter  elect  to  grant  such  aid, 
either  by  a  vote  of  the  people  or  otherwise,  as  may  be  thought 
best. 

"  Second. — A  provision  granting  the  right  to  this  Company 
to  occupy  Broadway  below  Madison  Square,  and  between  it 
and  the  City  Hall  Park,  provided  the  owners  and  representa- 
tives of  a  majority  of  property  fronting  on  Broadway  between 
these  points  shall  first  give  their  consent  in  writing  to  such 
occupation. 

"  Third. — A  provision  requiring  this  Company  to  appoint  a 
Committee  of  not  less  than  seven  able  engineers,  who  shall  ex- 
amine the  whole  question  of  underground,  overground,  arcade, 
pneumatic,  and  other  railway  projects  presented  and  proposed 
to  be  built  through  the  City  of  New  York,  and  who,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  whom,  shall  report  the  results  of  their  examinations, 
and  state  what  plan  or  plans  of  construction  they  may  deem 
most  practical,  feasible,  efficient,  useful,  and  publicly  beneficial, 
and  also  authorizing  the  Governor  to  appoint  a  commission  of 
eminent  citizens  to  examine  the  report  of  said  commission  of 
engineers,  and  in  case  said  Commissioners  so  appointed  by  the 
Governor,  or  a  majority  of  them  shall  approve  of  one  or  more 
of  the  plans  so  recommended  by  said  commission  of  engineers, 
then  this  Company  shall  be  authorized  to  adopt  and  construct 
any  such  plan  so  recommended  and  approved. 

"Kecurring  again  to  the  perhaps  vital  importance  of  granting 
authority  to  the  City  of  New  York,  to  Westchester  County  or 
any  portion  of  it,  if  their  people  shall  so  elect,  to  railroads  and 


35 


other  municipalities  or  corporations,  in  or  out  of  the  State,  to 
aid  in  the  construction  of  this  very  important  work,  we  respect- 
fully solicit  your  honorable  body's  favorable  consideration  of 
this  memorial,  and  of  the  grave  interests  of  the  public  in  the 
subject  which  it  earnestly  presents,  and  we  ask  for  the  further 
proper  enactments,  hereinbefore  mentioned,  to  enable  us  to 
accomplish  this  great  work  so  universally  needed  and  prayed 
for  by  the  multitudes  of  people  to  be  daily  and  ever  relieved 
and  benefited  by  it. 

"  All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. " 

THE  ENGINEERS'  REPORT. 

Mr.  Ogden  also  read  the  following  report  from  the  engineers : 

"  To  the  Honorable a  Wm.  B.  Ogden,  President  of  the  New  York 
City  Central  Underground  Baihvay  Company : 

"  Sir  :  We  have  the  honor  to  lay  before  you  the  following 
report  in  reference  to  building  and  working  an  underground 
railway  in  this  city  :  In  deciding  on  a  plan  or  system,  under 
which  to  construct  a  public  work,  with  moneys  drawn  from  the 
pockets  of  individuals  forming  an  association,  the  first  question 
asked,  and  the  most  important  one  to  decide,  as  far  as  those 
individuals  are  concerned,  is,  will  it  pay  ?  If  it  will  not,  then 
it  should  not  be  attempted,  unless  as  a  national  or  State  work. 
"We  hope  to  show  at  the  conclusion  of  this  paper,  that  the  work 
in  question  will  pay,  and  that  it  can  be  made  an  eminent  suc- 
cess, giving  facilities  of  the  utmost  importance  to  this  City, 
already  large  and  destined  probably  to  become  the  important 
commercial  city  of  the  world.  In  planning  a  work  of  this  kind, 
it  will  naturally  be  expected  that  the  London  Metropolitan 
Railway  would  be  looked  to,  as  furnishing  most  important  ex- 
perience, and  probably  bearing  as  a  guide.  That  great  work 
has  been  visited  by  one  of  our  number,  and  studied  by  us  all, 
but  the  conclusion  arrived  at  is,  that  we  cannot  well  afford  to 
carry  out  a  similar  work  in  this  city  and  in  all  respects  in  a 
similar  way.  We  believe  that  your  railway  should  be  arched 
over  for  its  whole  length,  excepting  where  it  may  have  stations 
in  parks  and  public  squares,  which  may  be  left  open  overhead 
without  cost  to  the  Company ;  there  are  several  such  places  on 
the  proposed  line.  Having  decided  that  the  line  must  be 
arched  over  for  the  whole  distance,  it  becomes  clear  that  it 
should  be  located,  as  far  as  possible,  along  and  under  streets 
where  the  right  of  way  can  be  obtained  free  from  cost. 

This  great  point,  the  right  of  way,  being  disposed  of,  the 


36 


next  point  to  be  considered  is  the  power  to  be  used  in  work- 
ing a  railway  under  a  continuous  arch,  and  at  the  same  time 
have  sufficient  ventilation ;  this  is  in  reality  the  chief  engineer- 
ing problem  to  be  solved.  Knowing  the  objections  to  the  or- 
dinary locomotive  engine  manufacturing  its  steam  as  it  runs 
by  a  fire  within  itself,  we  have  given  much  study  to  the 
various  means  proposed  for  getting  rid  of  these  objections. 
The  pneumatic  system  of  propulsion,  promises  very  valuable 
results  ultimately,  in  its  application  to  passenger  transit,  as 
shown  by  the  Sydenham  experiment.  The  "  compressed  air 
engine  system  "  has  some  features  worthy  of  note,  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  carry  in  an  ordinary  size  reservoir  sufficient  air 
to  haul  a  large  train  any  profitable  distance.  Motive  power, 
stored  up  in  the  form  of  water  heated  to  a  very  high  tempera- 
ture, promises  very  satisfactory  results.  As  before  stated, 
however,  we  think  it  best  to  recommend  nothing,  in  the  first 
construction  of  this  road,  that  could  interfere  with  the  use  of 
the  ordinary  locomotive  engine,  leaving  the  expediency  of 
adopting  other  kinds  of  motive  power  to  be  determined  by 
future  experience. 

Before  leaving  the  matter  of  the  power  to  be  used  in  work- 
ing this  railway  we  would  say  that  at  first  we  took  it  for 
granted  that  to  insure  proper  veutilation  a  large  portion  of  the 
hue  must  be  left  open  overhead,  as  was  done  on  the  London 
Metropolitan  Eailway.  We  are  now  inclined  to  think  that  a 
most  perfect  ventilation  can  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  large 
ventilating  chimneys  and  steam  engines  driving  fans,  or  steam 
jets,  placed  half  way  between  stations,  and  so  arranged  that 
they  can  change  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  tunnel  in  a  very 
short  period,  with  trains  running  in  each  direction  every  three 
minutes.  This  will  give  as  good  an  atmosphere  as  will  be 
desired. 

We  have  examined  the  routes  designated  by  the  charter,  and 
have  estimated  the  cost  of  construction  on  the  street  line,  in 
preference  to  the  line  through  the  blocks  by  open  cuts  on  the 
sides  of  the  streets,  as  we  believe  the  former  is  most  advan- 
tageous for  the  interests  of  your  Company.  The  line  of  the 
railway  commences  on  Broadway  in  the  City  Hall  Park,  thence 
by  a  double  line  on  each  side  of  the  City  Hall  to  Centre  street, 
and  through  City  Hall  Place  to  Worth  street,  thence  to  the 
angle  of  Mulberry  street,  and  through  Mulberry  and  across 
the  blocks  between  Bleecker  and  Great  Jones  street,  to  and 
through  Lafayette  Place  and  Astor  Place,  and  through  the 
block  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  streets  to  Fourth  Avenue, 
and  through  Fourth  Avenue  and  Union  Square,  to  Seventeenth 
street,  and  through  the  blocks  between  Seventeenth  and 


37 


Twenty-third  streets  to  Madison  Square  and  Madison  Avenue, 
and  through  Madison  Avenue  to  Harlem  Eiver,  and  along  the 
Kiver  to  Harlem  Eiver  Bridge  on  the  Third  Avenue.  This 
route,  passing  very  nearly  through  the  middle  of  the  island, 
and  less  than  one-fifth  of  a  mile  from  the  Central  Park,  through- 
out its  extent  has  all  the  advantages  for  through  or  local  travel 
which  any  route  can  possess.  The  estimate  (excepting  on  the 
low  grounds  of  Harlem,  north  of  Ninety-ninth  street,  where 
the  charter  authorizes  the  road  to  be  carried  over  the  street, 
and  where  the  estimate  is  for  a  viaduct)  is  for  a  covered  tun- 
nel for  the  entire  route,  lined  with  masonry,  lighted  and  thor- 
oughly ventilated  by  ventilating  shafts  and  power  at  interme- 
diate points  between  the  stations,  with  a  capacity  to  remove 
the  smoke  and  gas  with  a  rapidity  which  shall  insure  pure  air 
in  the  cars  at  all  times. 

ESTIMATE  OF  THE  COST. 

"From  Broadway  to  Forty-sixth  street — For  grading, 
$1,802,025 ;  masonry  and  concrete,  $2,341,708  ;  tracks,  depots, 
engine-house,  repairs,  shops,  gas-fixtures,  shafts,  and  ma- 
chinery, $1,010,000 ;  27  engines  and  200  passenger  cars, 
$1,432,000 ;  land  damage  and  contingencies,  $3,124,085  ;  total 
from  Broadway  to  Forty-sixth  street,  $10,105,318.  From  Forty- 
sixth  to  Harlem  Kiver,  $7,519,983.  Total  from  Broadway  to 
Harlem  Eiver,  $17,625,301. 

"  In  suggesting  the  probable  revenue  of  your  road  we  are 
without  positive  data  for  such  a  road  as  you  propose  to  build 
and  furnish,  but  we  have  data  which  will  give  a  degree  of  con- 
fidence to  such  an  estimate.  The  estimate  gross  revenue  of 
the  railway  to  Forty-sixth  street  is  $4,319,400  per  annum ;  the 
cost  of  operating  the  road  is  estimated  at  $1,916,000  per  annum. 
There  would  then  be  a  net  income  of  23  783-1000  per  cent,  on 
the  estimated  cost  of  that  portion  of  the  road,  which,  we  take 
it  for  granted,  will  be  first  put  in  operation.  The  fast  growth 
of  the  city,  we  think  warrants  the  belief  that  in  a  very  few 
years  the  extension  of  the  road  to  Harlem  Eiver  would  be  a 
remunerative  investment.  We,  therefore,  report  the  opinion 
expressed  at  the  commencement,  "  that  the  work  in  question 
will  pay." 

Eespectfuily  submitted. 

"W.  W.  EVANS. 
"E.  S.  CHESBEOUGH. 
"  GEOEGE  S.  GEEENE. 
"New  York,  October  19,  1869. " 


38 


After  reading  this  Eeport,  Mr.  Ogden  proceeded  at  length 
to  set  forth  the  facilities  of  construction  and  advantages  of  the 
underground  plan,  and  its  practical  working  for  the  benefit  and 
relief  of  the  citizens.  He  spoke  of  the  great  natural  advantages 
of  New-York,  for  concentrating  here  the  financial  and  commer- 
cial operations  of  this  continent,  and  of  the  importance  of  tak- 
ing early  measures  to  accomodate  the  business  and  travel  of  the 
great  metropolis,  which  would  surely  grow  up  here,  beyond 
our  most  sanguine  anticipations,  if  we  would  only  provide  for 
it,  and  not  impede  it  by  our  neglect. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  address,  the  Association  adjourned. 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES 

Secretary. 


The  Fourth  Public  Meeting  of  this  Association  will  be  held 
at  the  Harvard  Rooms,  6th  Avenue,  S.  W.  corner  of  42d  Street, 
on  Wednesday  Evening,  8th  March,  at  7^  o'clock,  sharp. 

The  following  subjects  will  be  presented  : 

Appropriate  Names  for  the  New  Avenues  and  Public  Places. 

The  Broadway  widening. 

The  present  condition  and  demands  of  West  Side  improve- 
ments. 

Rapid  Transit. 

Correct  principles  of  Assessment. 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES, 

Secretary. 

New-York,  February,  1871. 


WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 
New-York,  1870—1871. 


Document  No.  4. 
PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THB 

FOURTH  PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held   on  the   Sth    March,  1871. 

ADDRESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  Fx.  MARTIN, 
JOHN  W.  PIPiSSON, 
WM.  C.  H.  WAD  DELL, 
H.  B.  BACON,  Ac. 


J.  ADXAH  SACKETT,  LAW,  LOOK  AND  JOE  PBINTEB, 
Nc.  4.S  John  Siki.et, 

187  J. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION 


:o: 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  E.  MAETIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  EUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street. 

TREASURER, 

E.  H.  AEKENBUEGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKKNBCRGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
ROSWELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  OARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SANFORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  STEVENSON, 
JONATHAN  EDGAR, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MARSHALL  0.  ROBERTS 
DANIEL  P.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVER  MORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BENJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


NOTICE. 


 :o: 


The  West  Side  Association  propose  to  continue  their  pullic 
meetings,  during  the  Season  of  1870-71,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
the  attention  of  the  owners  of  property  upon  the  importance  of  the 
speedy  completion  of  the  public  improvements  on  the  West  Side  ; 
the  grading  of  Streets  and  Avenues,  awl  the  completion  of  the 
Public  Parks  already  laid  out  •  and  upon  the  necessity  of  rapid 
transit:  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  ijublic  opinion 
on  tliese  subjects  into  power,  and  giving  it  the  right  direction  to- 
ward accomplishing  these  objects. 

All  ozvners  of  Property,  North  of  59th  Street,  and  West  and 
North  of  the  Central  Park,  are  regarded  as  members  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. They  are  requested  to  give  notice  of  their  names,  address- 
es and  the  location  of  their  property  to  the  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  papers  of  the  Association, 
personal  notice  of  its  meetings,  and  of  other  matters  that  may 
concern  them. 


The  Meeting  of  the  8th  March,  1871,  was  opened  by  the 
President,  who  said  : 

Gentlemen : 

There  are  several  matters  this  month  that  deserve  your  con- 
sideration. 

Exemption  of  Mortgages  from  Taxation. 

Two  months  ago  we  discussed  here  the  subject  of  the  exemp- 
tion of  bonds  and  mortgages  from  taxation.  Messrs.  Wells, 
Dodge,  and  Cuyler  have,  in  their  report  to  the  Legislature, 
treated  this  subject  very  fully,  and  have  fortified  the  conclu- 
sions upon  which  we  agree  with  very  strong  arguments.  This 
report  has  been  printed  at  Albany,  and  has  reached  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature.  An  edition  for  the  public  has  been 
announced,  to  be  ready  in  a  few  days.  The  resolutions  of  our 
Association  have  been  sent  forward,  with  the  memorial  which 
we  prepared,  and  which  received  a  very  large  number  of  sig- 
natures. The  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means  in  the  Assembly 
have  fixed  upon  to-day,  the  8th  of  March,  for  a  hearing  on 
the  bills  for  the  exemption  which  have  been  introduced  there. 
It  would  be  of  great  consequence  if  this  Association  should 
send  a  deputation  to  Albany,  not  only  of  gentlemen  who  could 
explain  what  we  want  and  set  forth  the  reasons  which  justify 
our  demand  ;  but  also  of  men  of  property,  who  would  show  by 
their  presence  that  it  was  not  a  mere  idea  or  scheme,  but  a 
measure  that  the  interests  of  property  required,  and  that  the 
men  of  property  favored. 

The  Broadway  Widening. 

The  bill,  which  at  our  last  meeting  was  pending  in  the  Leg- 
islature in  relation  to  the  widening  of  Broadway,  became  a 


8 


law  on  the  27th  February,  1871.  The  lines  of  Broadway,  as 
widened  and  straightened  under  the  act  of  1869,  remain  estab- 
lished under  the  new  law.  It  does  not  interfere  with  the  im- 
provement itself.  It  affects  simply  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioners of  Estimate  and  Assessment,  and  is  in  the  nature 
of  an  enabling  act,  providing  a  mode  in  which  that  re- 
port may  be  reviewed,  referred  back,  or  set  aside.  It 
places  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  Mayor,  as  an  individual 
officer,  and  enables  him  to  take  one  or  both  of  two  distinct 
proceedings.  He  may  appeal  from  the  order  of  confirmation 
made  in  December  last,  to  the  General  Term  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  which  is  to  hear  the  appeal 'on  the  merits  as  broadly 
as  they  were  considered  at  the  Special  Term  :  and  he  may  also 
move  at  Special  Term  to  vacate  the  same  order  of  confirmation. 
In  either  proceeding  the  result  would  be  the  same  so  far  as 
the  property  owners  are  concerned :  the  report  would  be  sent 
back  to  the  same,  or  to  new  Commissioners,  the  work  done 
over  again,  aud  a  new  report  made  and  presented  for  confir- 
mation. Nothing  can  be  more  obvious,  when  we  see  a  double 
track  like  this  laid  in  a  law,  that  there  was  a  good  reason  for 
it;  and  the  reason  undoubtedly  was  the  doubt  as  to  which  sort 
of  proceeding,  in  a  matter  bristling  with  legal  and  technical 
questions  as  this  does,  would  be  found  effective ;  and  also 
that  modern  element  in  the  solution  of  legal  questions,  the 
"  personnel  "  of  the  Court ;  how  the  Judges  stand.  Evidently 
these  were  doubts  that  could  not  be  solved  before  the  passage 
of  the  law. 

Now,  in  one  respect  the  property  owners  are  satisfied.  The 
improvement  goes  on.  The  result  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
late  Commissioners  is  something  they  are  not  responsible  for, 
for  it  is  clear  that  they  had  no  voice  in  their  appointment, 
and  it  is  equally  clear  who  had.  The  Commissioners  evidently 
did  not  do  their  work  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  the  Legisla- 
ture ;  but  it  is  also  evident  that  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the 
Commissioners,  because  there  is  a  provision  in  the  new  law 
that  the  costs  in  the  proceeding,  including  the  compensation 
of  the  Commissioners,  are  to  be  paid  in  full.  Unless  a  man 
happens  to  be  of  an  unusually  penetrating  turn  of  mind,  it  may 
be  difficult  to  see  any  reason  at  ail  for  the  new  law.    But  we 


9 


can  accept  the  result  in  the  general  interests  of  justice.  Now 
there  is  one  thing  on  which  we  are  unanimous;  that  is  that 
there  shall  be  no  needless  delay.    Many  owners  have  already 
built  upon  the  new  line,  more  are  ready  to  do  so.    For  five 
years  we  have  been  waiting  for  this  line  to  be  established.  I 
was  solicited  by  a  number  of  Broadway  owners,  immediately 
after  the  confirmation  of  the  report,  to  call  a  meeting  of  owners 
on  Broadway,  to  confer  together  upon  a  simultaneous  move- 
ment for  building  all  along  Broadway ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that,  with  the  present  advantages  in  the  low  cost  of  building, 
many  new  buildings  would  have  been  started  this  Spring,  one 
man  encouraging  another^;  and  this  valuable  property  would 
have  been  brought  into  use.    There  are  two  ways  in  which  the 
Mayor  may  proceed.    He  may  take  the  full  time,  until  the 
1st  of  May,  to  take  any  action  under  the  law;  the  Court  which 
hears  the  motion  may  take  months  before  rendering  a  decision, 
as  is  often  the  case,  until  the  delay  becomes  a  denial  of  jus- 
tice, and  then  the  new  Commissioners  may  occupy  six  months 
in  making  their  report.    Two  or  three  months  will  then  be  con- 
sumed in  advertising,  hearing  objections,  etc.,  and  there  will 
be  a  full  year's  delay  in  doing  a  thing  which  could  easily  be 
done  in  a  few  weeks,    So  much  work  has  been  done  in  this 
matter  that  it  could  be  easily  finished  in  a  few  weeks.  What- 
ever is  to  be  done  further  is  little  more  than  a  revision  of  the 
report,  if  the  Mayor  acts  promptly  and  the  Commissioners  act 
promptly.    If  men  are   appointed  who  will  do  their  duty 
promptly  the  new  report  might  be  presented  and  confirmed  be- 
fore the  Summer  vacation.    I  hey  did  these  things  differently 
in  France  under  the  Empire.    I  will  tell  you  what  might  be 
done  here.    Suppose  the  Commissioners  should  take  for  a 
week  one  of  the  vacant  Court  rooms,  make  a  calendar  of  the 
property  to  be  taken,  numbered  as  it  is  on  the  Damage  Maps, 
commence  on  Monday  morning  at  ten  o'clock  and  hear  every 
casein  its  order  in  open  Court,  on  the  proofs  and  allegations  of 
the  parties  ;  sit  from  day  to  day  until  all  were  heard,  and  then 
make  up  their  decision  as  a  jury  agrees  upon  a  verdict.  This 
would  be  proceeding  upon  the  French  model,  and  I  think  the 
result  would  be  satisfactory  to  the  public.    The  owners  wish 
this  work  done  rapidly.    If  it  is  finished  in  a  prompt  manner, 


10 


I  think  there  is  a  disposition  to  accept  the  results  of  a  new 
proceeding  with  equanimity.  But  if  it  is  to  be  the  occasion 
of  a  year's  delay,  and  the  trouble  incident  to  doing  the  work 
all  over  again,  then  I  think  there  will  be  an  universal  dispo- 
sition among  owners  to  follow  the  advice  which  most  lawyers 
are  now  giving  them,  to  insist  on  their  legal  rights  under  the 
present  awards,  and  to  raise  every  legal  question  against  the 
validity  of  any  new  proceeding,  and  its  effect  in  depriving 
them  of  what  they  are  claiming  as  a  vested  right  under  the 
present  report.  I  suppose  the  principles  of  law  already  es- 
tablished, and  applicable  to  such  cases,  would  be  in  favor  of 
the  owners  in  such  a  controversy.  But  it  would  plunge  the 
whole  case  in  a  sea  of  trouble,  and  perhaps  years  of  litigation, 
out  of  which  the  parties  who  expect  relief  under  the  new  law 
might  come  out  the  most  disappointed.  My  inquiries  upon 
this  subject  enable  me  to  state  that  the  view  taken  of  this  sub- 
ject by  the  City  authorities  will  lead  to  a  revision  of  the  report; 
that  the  proceedings  will  be  taken  with  as  much  rapidity  as 
the  legal  forms  will  admit,  and  that  in  this  respect  the  wishes 
of  property-owners  will  be  met. 

The  Biverside  Park. 

The  report  of  the  Biverside  Park  Commissioners  has  been 
filed.  Objections  are  to  be  heard  to  it,  and  the  report  pre- 
sented to  the  Court  for  confirmation  in  May.  If  we  may  an- 
ticipate the  completion  of  this  improvement,  then  great  advan- 
tages will  result  to  the  West  Side  property.  There  are  very 
few  persons,  comparatively,  who  have  any  idea  of  the  beauty 
of  this  river  bank,  for  there  are  now  so  few  points  of  it  access- 
ible. When  the  drive  along  it  shall  be  opened,  there  are  none 
who  will  not  take  a  new  sense  of  the  great  advantages  derived 
from  this  improvement,  Its  characteristic  is  that  it  is  too 
narrow.  Its  inner  line,  on  the  hill  top,  does  not  come  near 
enough  to  the  crest  of  the  ridge  ;  that  is,  the  park  will  occupy 
only  a  portion  of  the  slope,  and  not  in  many  places  extend  to 
the  top  of  the  hill.  This  will  detract  from  its  beauty.  This 
leads  to  the  consideration  of  a  plan  for  working  the  park,  which 
will,  to  some  extent,  remedy  this  defect ;  it  is  to  treat  the  ave- 


11 


nue  as  a  portion  of  the  park,  and  not  to  have  the  border  of  the 
avenue  next  to  the  park,  separated  from  it  by  a  rigid  line  and 
a  stone  wall,  as  the  Fifth  avenue  side  of  the  Central  Park  is 
bounded;  but  to  have  the  avenue  blend  or  pass  off  into  the 
park  according  to  the  surface,  without  any  rigid  lines.  This 
will  add  to  its  beauty,  and  at  the  same  time  the  avenue  will 
not,  as  seen  from  the  park,  present  the  aspect  of  a  high  wall 
of  mason-work,  but  can  be  banked  and  terraced,  and  receive 
varied  forms  of  natural  treatment.  This  will  also  give  an  unique 
character  to  the  avenue,  and  give  great  and  distinct  character 
to  the  residences  which  may  be  erected  to  front  upon  it. 

The  improvement  of  Boulevards  and  Buildings  in  the  Park. 

At  our  last  meeting  we  passed  resolutions,  addressed  to  the 
Legislature,  and  in  favor  of  a  large  issue  of  city  bonds  for  the 
purpose  of  providing  the  money  for  the  completion  of  the  River- 
side and  Morningside  Parks  ;  and  also  for  the  erection  of 
buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  various  Galleries  and  Mu- 
seums. These  resolutions,  accompanied  by  memorials  to  the 
same  effect,  and  very  numerously  signed  by  citizens,  have  been 
sent  to  the  Legislature,  and  a  bill  has  been  introduced  grant- 
ing the  powers  thus  asked  for. 

This  action  points  to  results,  the  importance  of  which  can- 
not be  overestimated,  to  us  particularly,  in  view  of  the  present 
disposition  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks  to  set  aside 
Manhattan  Square,  as  the  site  of  the  new  buildings  they 
propose  to  erect.  There  are  now  societies  and  collections  in 
existence,  prepared  to  occupy  such  buildings.  The  New- York 
Historical  Society  has  a  library,  a  collection  of  historical  curi- 
osities and  antiquities,  and  a  gallery  of  pictures,  which  the 
public  at  large  do  not  begin  to  appreciate — I  may  say,  have 
not  the  means  to  appreciate,  for  they  are  contained  in  a 
building  far  too  small  for  their  exhibition,  and  too  far  out  of 
the  way  to  be  much  frequented.  If  they  could  be  once  ad- 
vantageously displayed,  they  would  create  a  new  sensation  in 
this  city.  There  is  a  Museum  of  Natural  History,  under  the 
management  of  an  association  of  gentlemen,  which  now  finds 
a  place  for  its  collections  in  the  old  Arsenal  building  in  the 


12 


Park.  The  Metropolitan  Gallery  of  Art  has  been  organized 
in  this  city,  and  a  subscription  started  by  gentlemen,  well 
qualified  both  in  taste  and  wealth,  to  make  a  collection  ;  and 
an  Observatory  has  been  for  some  time  in  successful  operation 
in  the  Central  Park. 

These  societies  want  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of 
their  collections,  it  is  a  just  measure  of  co-operation  that 
these  buildings  should  be  supplied  and  cared  for  by  the  citj> 
and  the  Central  Park  is  their  proper  location.  It  is  proper 
for  the  city  to  supply  the  buildings,  because  such  galleries 
and  collections  are  for  the  public  good,  and  are  the  most 
efficient  means  for  the  culture,  improvement  and  elevation  of 
the  people.  The  buildings  must  be  extensive  and  elegant, 
and  the  attempt  to  supply  them  by  private  contributions  re- 
sults in  so  many  delays  and  impediments  that  hitherto  all 
these  attempts  have  failed.  The  disposition  of  the  people  to 
gather  collections  is  in  strong  contrast  with  their  disposition 
to  erect  buildings.  It  may  safely  be  said,  that  if  buildings  are 
prepared,  and  societies  ready  to  take  good  care  of  them,  the 
collections  would  come  in  from  the  sources  of  private  liberal- 
ity with  great  rapidity.  The  collections  already  beginning  in 
the  Park  fully  illustrate  this,  and  show  how  much  better  it  is 
to  have  these  collections  made  and  kept  by  voluntary  societies 
than  to  have  them  belong  to  the  city.  It  secures  the  co-op- 
eration of  gentlemen  of  high  culture,  of  liberality  and  wealth y 
and  encourages  their  disposition  to  increase  these  collec- 
tions by  their  own  donations  and  devises. 

These  undertakings  of  the  Department,  therefore,  merit  the 
strongest  popular  encouragement.  It  is  of  the  highest  neces- 
sity that  work  of  this  sort,  should  be  carried  out  with  the  best 
architectural  skill  and  taste,  and  with  the  wisest  adaptation  of 
the  buildings  to  their  proposed  uses,  and  that  in  every  respect 
these  new  buildings  should  present  the  strongest  contrast  to 
the  construction  and  management  of  the  County  Court  House. 
It  is  useless  to  conceal  that  on  these  points  there  is  some  dis- 
quietude in  the  public  mind.  But  the  management  of  the  De- 
partment of  Public  Parks,  so  far,  in  respect  to  efficiency  and 
strict  economy,  fully  justifies  us  in  asking  for  the  passage  of 
the  law  making  provisions  for  these  important  improvements. 


13 


Mr.  John  W.  Pirsson  then  addressed  the  meeting  on  the 
subject  of  the  Correct  Principles  of  Assessment,  as  follows : 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen: 

Assessments  for  public  improvements  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes. 

First.  Those  which  relate  to  the  opening  of  streets  and 
avenues,  the  widening  and  straightening  or  extending  of  the 
same,  and  the  laying  out  and  establishment  of  public  parks 
and  places. 

Second.  The  regulating,  grading  and  paving  of  the  avenues, 
streets  and  public  places,  and  rendering  them  fit  for  the  use, 
not  only  of  those  owning  lands  fronting  thereon,  but  also  of 
the  public. 

The  remarks  I  am  about  to  make,  are  intended  to  apply  in 
the  main  to  the  class  first  named. 

The  proceedings  for  assessments  arc  so  numerous;  they 
are  so  general  throughout  the  city,  and  the  burdens  thereby 
imposed  are  so  unequally  and  unjustly  distributed,  thai  every 
owner  of  real  estate  has  a  direct  interest  in  the  subject,  as  to 
what  are  "  the  correct  principles  of  assessment." 

When  the  laws  are  so  amended  and  administered,  that  no 
property  shall  be  assessed  for  benefit,  unless  such  benefit  is 
direct,  immediate  and  actual,  we  shall  have  reached  a  substan- 
tial solution  of  this  difficult  problem. 

To  ascertain  whether  such  benefit  really  attaches  or  not, 
one  of  these  three  tests  should  apply  to  property  proposed  to 
be  charged  : 

o 

First.  Will  it  bring  more  rent? 

Second.  AVill  those  carrying  on  business  thereon,  have  an 
increase  of  trade  ? 


Third.  Will  it  command  a  greater  price  in  the  market? 


14 


An  assessment  is  but  an  extraordinary  tax,  levied  upon  a 
particular  district,  assumed  to  be  so  immediately  benefited  by 
a  public  work,  as  to  be  properly  chargeable  with  the  whole 
expense  thereof.  If  it  can  be  shown,  that  as  to  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  property  embraced  within  such  limits,  under 
the  present  laws,  no  greater  benefit  is  derived,  than  is  com- 
mon to  the  public,  then  those  laws  should  be  radically 
changed ;  because  it  is  contrary  to  sound  principles  of  law,  to 
compel  any  citizen  to  bear  any  more  than  his  just  proportion 
of  the  taxes.  Of  the  mode  now  in  use,  it  may  be  safely,  averred, 
that  in  a  large  majority  of  the  cases,  the  alleged  benefit,  is  in- 
direct,  uncertain,  and  often  purely  imaginary.  The  actual  bene- 
fit derived  from  these  works,  is  two-fold,  namely  :  local,  on  the 
immediate  line  of  the  improvement,  and  of  a  limited  breadth ; 
and  general,  or  to  the  public  at  large.  Beyond  these  two 
classes,  there  is  no  such  direct  and  certain  benefit,  as  to  justify 
the  laying  of  an  assessment  therefor.  The  City  is  not  called 
upon,  (except  in  a  limited  degree,  which  I  shall  presently  re- 
fer to,)  to  bear  its  part  of  the  cost,  although  it  derives  so 
much  of  the  benefit,  not  only  immediately  upon  the  comple- 
tion of  the  work  ;  but  permanently,  for  all  time.  "Whereas 
the  neighborhood  itself,  frequently  derives  no  benefit  for  years, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  opening  of  the  New  Bowery ;  or  perhaps 
none  at  all,  as  in  the  extension  of  Worth  street,  which  latter 
street,  has  remained  for  years,  a  filthy  and  almost  impassable 
mass  of  dirt  and  rubbish  ;  and  yet  the  people  owning  property 
on  that  street,  and  for  a  large  surrounding  region,  were  com- 
pelled to  pay  heavily  for  that  work,  which  has  been  no  use 
whatever  to  them. 

An  examination  of  the  assessment  proceedings  on  file,  will 
show  some  of  the  settled  neighborhoods  to  be  covered  over,  as 
it  were,  with  a  net*- work  of  assessments,  while  other  like  neigh- 
borhoods are  comparatively  free  from  such  suggestive  lines  of 
demarcation.  This  goes  to  show  that  the  cost  is  not  properly 
distributed,  and  it  never  can  be,  until  the  city  pays  its  due 
proportion,  for  the  benefit  it  undoubtedly  derives. 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  examiue  briefly  some  of  the 
leading  acts,  to  see  in  what  respect  they  are  in  harmony,  or  at 
variance  with  the  principles  I  have  assumed  as  the  proper 
ones  to  be  observed. 


15 


It  will  not  be  necessary  to  examine  any  act  prior  to  that 
most  important,  comprehensive  one  ;  the  impress  of  which  is 
indelibly  fixed  upon  the  face  of  this  Island.  I  mean  the  Act 
of  May  3d,  1807,  by  which  Gouverneur  Morris,  Simeon 
DeWitt  and  John  Rutherford  were  appointed  Commissioners, 
with  "  exclusive  powers  to  lay  out  streets,  avenues  and  roads 
"  and  public  squares  of  such  ample  width  and  extent  as  they 
"may  deem  for  the  public  good,  and  sufficient  to  secure  a 
"  free  and  abundant  circulation  of  air,  among  the  streets 
"  and  public  places,  when  the  same  shall  have  been  built 
"upon,"  "within  that  part  of  the  city,  Northward  of  a 
"line,  commenceing  at  the  wharf  of  George  Clinton,  on  Hud- 
"  son  River,  thence  running  through  Fitzroy  Road,  Green- 
"  wich  Lane  and  Art  Street,  to  the  Bowery  Road,  thence 
"  down  the  Bowery  road  to  North  Street,  thence  through  North 
"Street  in  its  present  direction  to  the  East  River."  The 
present  Gansevoort  Street  was  the  beginning  of  Fitzroy  Road. 
Greenwich  Lane  is  now  Greenwich  Avenue,  and  it  continued 
to  Fifth  Avenue,  where  it  intersected  Art  Street,  near  Waverly 
Place.  Art  Street  continued  in  a  curved  line  to  the  Bowery,  at 
the  intersection  of  Astor  Place.  North  Street,  is  now  Houston 
Street  from  the  Bowery  east  to  the  river. 

The  Commissioners  filed  their  maps  or  plan  in  compliance 
with  the  law,  in  1811,  accompanied  with  their  report  and  ex- 
planatory remarks,  from  which  I  venture  to  make  two  brief 
quotations,  as  showing  what  was  thought  by  them,  to  be  the 
future  destiny  of  this  city. 

In  speaking  of  the  land  reserved  for  a  public  market,  they 
say :  "  The  City  of  New-York  contains  a  population  already 
"  sufficient  to  place  it  in  the  rank  of  the  cities  of  the  second 
"  order,  and  is  rapidly  advancing  towards  a  level  with  the 
"  first.  It  is,  perhaps,  no  unreasonable  conjecture  that  in  half 
"  a  century,  it  will  be  closely  built  up  tothe  Northern  boundary 
"  of  the  parade,"  (that  was  to  be  34th  Street,)  "  and  contain 
400.000  souls."  Again,  in  explanation  of  the  map  stopping  at 
155th  Street,  they  say  :  "  To  some  it  may  be  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise, that  the  whole  island  has  not  been  laid  out  as  a  city ; 
"  to  others,  it  may  be  a  subject  of  merriment,  that  the  Commis- 
"  sioners  have  provided  space  for  a  greater  population  than  is. 


16 


t:  collected  on  any  spot  this  side  of  China.  It  is  not  improba- 
"  ble  that  considerable  numbers  may  be  collected  at  Harlem, 
"  before  the  high  hills  to  the  Southward  of  it  shall  be  built 
"  upon  as  a  city;  and  it  is  improbable,  that  for  centuries  to 
"  come,  the  grounds  North  of  Harlem  Fiat,  will  be  covered 
"  with  Houses." 

These  eminent  and  public  spirited  citizens,  in  making  these 
estimates  and  prognostications,  had  not  the  advantages  of  the 
Erie  Canal,  our  net-work  of  railroads,  and  the  acquisition  of 
California  with  its  gold  bearing  mountains  to  guide  them.  To 
these  may  be  credited  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  our  increase 
in  population,  so  that  thej'  were  not  far  wrong  from  their  basisf 
as  in  1861,  the  population  was  over  813.000,  instead  of  400.000 
as  they  had  predicted. 

This  act  provides  for  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  of 
estimate  and  assessment,  for  laying  out,  altering  or  opening 
.any  street,  road  or  public  square,  and  they  are  empowered  to 
assess  the  cost  of  the  proceeding,  "  among  all  the  owners  of 
houses  and  lots,  intended  to  be  benefited  thereby."  There  is 
no  limit  fixed  to  the  extent  of  the  assessments. 

13y  the  act  to  reduce  the  several  laws  relating  to  the  City  of 
New-York,  into  one  act,  passed  April  9th,  1813,  the  assess- 
ments for  improvements,  no  matter  in  what  part  of  the  city, 
were  restricted  to  the  property  fronting  thereon,  and  lying 
within  one-half  the  distance  of  the  next  street  or  avenue, 
on  each  side  thereof. 

It  was  soon  found  that  this  iron  rule  would  not  work  in  tho 
old  part  of  the  city,  so  that  on  the  Fifth  of  April,  1816,  by  an 
act  passed  on  that  day,  it  was  so  far  modified,  that  the  Commis- 
sioners in  making  the  assessment  for  benefit,  were  not  con- 
fined  to  any  definite  limits;  except  in  cases  of  opening  streets 
&nd  avenues,  laid  out  on  the  map  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Streets  and  Roads,  (i.  e.,  the  map  filed  in  1811,)  n  which 
ithey  were  restricted^*)  the  land  lying  on  each  side  thereof, 
und  not  beyond  half  the  distance  to  the  next  street  or  avenue. 

The  laws  remained  substantially  the  same,  until  1869,  when 
an  important  advance  was  made  in  the  right  direction,  by  the 
passage  of  the  Act  of  the  20th  of  May,  of  that  year,  which 
provides  that  whenever  any  street  or  public  place  not  laid 


17 


down  and  established,  under  and  by  virtue  of  that  Act  of 
April  3d,  1807,  is  authorized  and  directed  to  be  opened,  &c. ; 
Commissioners  may  cause  to  be  assessed,  upon  the  Mayor, 
Aldermen  and  Commonalty,  an  amount  not  exceeding  one- 
half  the  cost  thereof,  if  in  the  judgment  of  the  Commissioners 
the  whole  expense  cannot  be  justly  and  properly  imposed 
upon  the  property  immediately  fronting  on,  or  advantaged  by 
such  improvement.  For  the  purpose  of  providing  for  the 
payment  of  this  part,  the  Comptroller  is  directed  to  issue  stock, 
to  be  denominated  "  City  Improvement  Stock,"  to  be  redeema- 
ble within  twenty  years,  with  interest  not  exceeding  seven 
per  cent,  per  annum. 

This  law  then  contains  the  germ  of  the  right  principle,  but 
it  needs  to  be  developed  and  extended  materially,  before  it 
will  meet  the  case,  and  afford  the  relief  we  are  entitled  to. 
There  is  a  merciful  provision  in  the  act,  which  deserves 
especial  mention,  i.  e.,  in  all  assessments  below  14th  Street, 
the  Commissioners  may  assess  upon  any  lands  or  premises 
benefited  by  an  improvement,  such  part  of  the  expense 
thereof,  as  they  may  deem  just  and  reasonable,  not  ex- 
ceeding one-half  of  the  market  value  of  such  lands  and  premises. 
So  that  two  such  beneficial  visitations  of  the  Commissioners 
would  not  only  relieve  the  beneficiary  of  all  his  land,  so  bene- 
fited, but  would  not  lea^e  one  cent  in  his  pocket,  in  the  place 
of  it,  as  a  reminder  that  he  had  ever  been  so  fortunate  as  to 
own  it,  or  of  the  benefit  he  had  received  by  these  public  im- 
provements. 

In  all  these  acts,  the  Commissioners  are  directed  to  assess 
the  property  deemed  to  be  benefited,  or  supposed  to  be  benefited 
or  intended  to  be  benefited,  &c.  There  is  not  one  word  directing 
them  to  charge  only  for  actual  and  direct  benefit,  and  for  the 
very  good  reason  that  not  one  assessment  in  a  dozen  could 
have  been  carried  into  effect,  without  charging  the  city  with 
a  part  of  the  expense,  which  they  had  no  power  to  do. 

If  the  laying  out  of  a  street  or  avenue,  the  grading,  paving 
and  making  it  fit  for  use,  are  so  exclusively  beneficial  to  those 
only  who  own  property  upon  it,  or  within  certain  surrounding 
limits,  as  to  render  them  properly  chargeable  with  the  whole 
expense ;  why  in  the  name  of  reason  should  they  not  have  the 


18 


right  to  fence  it  in,  erect  toll  gates  upon  it,  and  levy  tolls  upon 
those  outsiders  who  have  paid  no  part  of  the  cost,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  turnpike  roads? 

In  truth  all  these  laws  are  founded  upon  an  unsound  theory, 
which  might  do  very  well  for  the  laying  out  of  country  roads, 
but  is  not  at  all  applicable  to  the  homogeneous  wants  of  a  great 
city,  in  which  all  the  people  participate,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  in  whatever  improvement  may  be  made  in  any  part ; 
and  share  in  like  manner,  whatsoever  there  is  of  neglect,  incon- 
venience, or  mismanagement  in  the  body  corporate. 

An  examination  of  two  assessment  proceedings  of  compara- 
tively recent  date,  will  serve  to  show  how  unreal  are  the  ben- 
efits in  most  cases,  in  which  they  are  assumed  to  be  conferred. 

Take  first  the  case  of  the  extension  of  Madison  Avenue  from 
•42 d  to  86th  streets.  Now  Madison  Avenue  shared  with  the 
Firth  Avenue  the  pre-eminence  of  being  one  of  the  two  first 
class  Avenues  for  private  residences. 

It  was  built  upon  in  as  good  and  expensive  a  style,  and  was 
to  a  certain  extent  the  rival  of  the  Fifth  Avenue.  But  few  va- 
cant lots  remained.  Its  character  was  fully  established,  and 
it  needed  no  help  of  this  kind.  As  to  the  Fifth  Avenue,  it  was 
about  to  enjoy  the  monopoly  of  being  the  only  first  class  avenue 
for  residences  between  42d  street  and  the  Park. 

The  extension  of  Madison  Avenue  added  just  so  many  lots 
to  be  brought  into  competition  with  it.  One  would  naturally 
suppose  then,  that  neither  the  Fifth  Avenue,  nor  Madison  Ave- 
nue below  42d  street,  would  have  been  called  upon  to  pay  any- 
thing for  that  improvement.  But  such  was  not  the  case.  The 
boundaries  of  that  assessment  were,  North  by  101st  street, 
South  by  22nd  street,  East  by  the  Third  Avenue,  and  West  by 
the  Sixth  Avenue. 

What  benefit  was  that  improvement  to  the  Third,  Fourth  or 
Sixth  Avenues,  or  to  any  street  lying  between  them,  more  than 
to  any  other  street  or  avenue?  Did  any  piece  of  property 
thereon  bring  any  greater  rent,  or  was  it  more  valuable  for  bu- 
siness ?  Or  did  it  sell  for  more  in  consequence  ?    Certainly  not. 

Where  then  was  the  justice  of  assessing  property  upon  those 
streets  and  avenues? 


19 


The  other  case  is  that  of  the  Plaza,  as  it  is  now  called,  the 
200  feet  square  added  to  the  Southeast  corner  of  the  Central 
Park,  at  59th  street  and  Fifth  Avenue,  "for  the  purpose"  (as 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Central  Park  state  in  their  re- 
port of  1868) "  of  affording  a  more  spacious  entrance  to  the 
Central  Park  at  that  place"  Now  clearly  the  only  property 
which  received  a  direct  and  certain  benefit,  was  the  Central 
Park,  and  a  narrow  strip  of  land  not  more  than  100  feet  in 
depth,  which  was  thus  made  to  front  upon  the  Park  as  extended. 
As  to  all  the  other  land  charged,  it  received  no  greater  benefit 
for  that  "  improved  entrance"  than  any  other  land  on  this  Island. 
And  yet  the  boundaries  of  the  benefit  map  were,  North  by 
72nd  street,  South  by  34th  street,  East  by  Fourth  Avenue,  and 
West  by  Eighth  Avenue.  The  number  of  lots  assessed  was 
8,318,  including  the  2,600  in  that  part  charged  to  the  Park. 

8,318  Lots  Assessed  to  pay  for  16  Lots  ! ! 

The  amount  awarded  for  the  16  lots  was  $495,750 
The  amount  raised  by  the  assessment  was  533,530 

So  that  the  cost  of  the  proceeding  to  acquire 
title  to  those  16  lots  was  $37,780 

If  any  owner  of  real  estate  is  prepared  to  contend  that  a 
system,  which  can  make  such  an  exhibit,  does  not  need  a  thor- 
ough reformation,  then  he  must  be  one  of  those  peculiar  indi- 
viduals, who  love  to  be  imposed  upon.  And  there  are  doubt- 
less many  such  in  this  city,  judging  from  the  patient  manner  in 
which  such  impositions  are  submitted  to. 

In  conclusion  a  few  words  will  serve  to  suggest  the  proper 
remedy,  namely  : 

First.  The  laws  should  be  so  amended  that  the  limits  of  all 
assessments  throughout  the  city,  shall  be  restricted  to  one-half 
the  distance  to  the  next  street  or  avenue,  and  not  to  extend  in 
length  beyond  the  line  of  the  improvement. 

Secondly.  The  amount  to  be  imposed  for  the  opening  of  any 
street  or  avenue,  or  the  laying  out  of  any  public  park  or  place, 


20 

established  under  the  Act  of  April  3rd,  1807,  should  not  be 
more  than  one-half  the  assessed  value  of  the  property  charged, 
nor  in  the  aggregate  should  more  than  one-half  the  cost  be 
assessed  upon  the  district.  For  all  other  improvements  of 
that  kind,  not  provided  for  in  the  established  plan  of  the  city, 
the  amount  to  be  imposed  upon  the  property,  should  not  exceed 
one-quarter  of  its  assessed  value ;  nor,  in  the  aggregate,  should 
more  than  one-quarter  of  the  cost  be  levied  upon  the  district 
assessed. 

Thirdly.  The  remainder  of  the  cost  to  be  paid  by  the  city,  in 
the  "  City  Improvement  Stock"  or  Bonds,  as  authorized  in  the 
Act  of  1869. 

The  advantages  of  this  mode  will  be  threefold. 

It  will  simplify  and  expedite  the  proceedings. 

It  will  reduce  largely,  the  cost,  L  e.,  for  maps,  surveys,  Com- 
missioners' fees,  &c. 

It  will  be  substantially  just  to  all;  as  the  expenses  will  be 
borne  by  those  properly  chargeable  with  them,  namely,  the 
property  owners  really  benefited  in  their  fair  proportion,  and 
the  city,  which  derives  the  chief  benefit,  and  holds  it  in  per- 
petuity in  its  fair  proportion. 


Upon  the  subject  of  "Kapid  Transit"  for  the  length  of  the 
City  of  New-York,  &c,  Mr.  Wm.  Coventry  H.  Waddell  then 
said : 

Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen  of  the  West  Side  Association  : 

The  subject  of  Eapid  Transit  throughout  the  length  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  having  been  so  often  brought  before  you,  I 
should  hesitate  to  continue  its  elucidation,  if  the  importance 
which  it  bears  to  our  welfare,  to  the  whole  City,  and  to  the 
State,  and  indeed  to  the  whole  United  States,  did  not  war- 
rant the  fullest  consideration. 

The  special  plan  by  which  to  accomplish  this  great  object, 
and  to  which  I  would  claim  your  attention  this  evening,  cannot 


21 


be  called  decidedly  new,  because  prior  to  1868,  I  brought  the 
matter  to  public  attention.  It  has  not  however  been  brought 
directly  before  you;  has  not  yet  received  your  favorable 
consideration. 

The  Legislature  of  this  State  at  its  last  session,  granted  a 
new  Charter  to  the  City  of  New  York,  and  in  that  Charter 
originated  the  "  Department  of  Docks,"  conferring  on  that  De- 
partment the  charge,  not  only  of  the  construction  of  suitable 
Docks,  Piers  and  Bulkheads  for  this  Commercial  Metropolis, 
but  also  the  devising  and  the  carrying  out  of  suitable  modes 
of  transportation,  by  Railroad  and  otherwise,  on  the  long  lines 
of  river  boundary,  which  surround  this  city.  In  support  of 
which,  that  Department  extended  invitations  to  the  public  to 
furnish  them  with  suggestions  thereon,  by  and  through  which 
they  might  be  the  better  enabled  to  execute  the  trusts  imposed 
upon  them  by  the  Charter  of  the  City. 

I  submitted  the  views  which  I  then  entertained  to  that  De- 
partment and  have  reason  to  believe,  and  will  herein  show, 
that  these  views  have  been  favorably  entertained  by  that  com- 
mission. I  will  now  endeavor  to  lay  before  you  a  brief  syn- 
opsis of  the  plan  proposed,  in  the  hope,  that  it  may  not  only 
tend  to  explain  the  great  enigma  as  to  how  we  shall  the  most 
readily  obtain  the  great  desideratum  of  Rapid  Transit,  through- 
out the  length  of  the  Island,  on  its  West  Side,  but  also  elicit 
your  favorable  verdict. 

The  City  of  New  York  is  a  long  narrow  City,  surrounded  by 
navigable  water,  is  about  sixteen  miles  in  length,  from  its  most 
northerly  point  at  Spuy  ten  Duyvil  on  the  Hudson  River  and  Bay, 
to  its  most  southerly  termination,  and  is  from  half  a  mile  to  two 
miles  in  width.  It  lies  at  the  confluence  of  a  great  river  and 
an  arm  of  the  sea.  The  first,  extending  navigable,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  into  the  interior,  and  the  latter  forming  another 
superior  outlet  to  the  Ocean ;  besides  that  natural  outlet  from 
the  great  Bay  on  which  the  City  stands,  to  the  sea.  The  water 
or  bulkhead  line  on  the  Hudson  River  and  Bay,  runs  nearly 
northeast  for  about  thirteen  miles;  and  nearly  north  for  about 
three  miles.  The  wharves,  piers,  and  bulkhead  of  this  great 
City,  are  now  composed  wholly  of  wooden  piles  and  cribs,  in 
a  very  dilapidated  condition,  not  only  causing  great  obstruc- 


22 


tions  to  the  free  passage  of  the  natural  water  flow,  and  thus 
tending  to  permanent  injury,  but  are  entirely  unfit  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  shipping.  And  whilst  important  Cities  of  the 
old  world  are  enjoying  a  system  of  Docks,  Piers,  and  Ware- 
house improvements,  commensurate  with  their  requirements, 
we,  with  vastly  superior  natural  advantages,  no  quicksands  nor 
rapid  currents  on  the  Hudson  Kiver  and  Bay  to  endanger  the 
most  solid  well  built  docks  and  piers ;  are  through  our  commer- 
cial men  urgently  calling  for  structures  better  suited,  not  only 
to  its  present  importance,  but  eminently  so  for  the  prospective 
trade  which  now  begins  to  flow  into  its  Harbor,  by  the  Pacific 
Railroad  and  its  connections,  on  its  way  to  Europe,  and  which 
this  plan  will,  if  carried  out,  greatly  increase. 

A  comprehensive  plan  is  herewith  submitted,  by  which, 
with  suitable  modifications,  immense  profits  may  be  realized 
by  the  [City  itself,  or  whoever  else  shall  undertake  its  con- 
struction, and  all  the  great  ends  may  be  accomplished,  not  only 
of  affording  Rapid  steam  travel  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
end  of  the  City ;  of  constructing  suitable  piers,  wharves  and 
depots  ;  but  also  of  drawing  all  this  immense  prospective  traffic 
to  our  City,  by  the  superior  advantages  which  we  can  then  offer. 

These  great  improvements,  with  all  the  energies  we  could 
bestow,  could  scarcely  be  completed,  before  the  treasures  of 
the  Orient  will  be  pouring  in  upon  us ;  and  still  we  could  ac- 
complish all,  in  a  shorter  time,  and  at  a  less  expense,  than  any 
other  City  in  the  world.,  so  great  are  our  natural  advantages,  as 
I  will  endeavor  to  show. 

The  proposition  is,  to  widen  the  most  westwardly  street  and 
avenue  throughout  the  length  of  the  Island,  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  and  necessarily  a  new  piece  of  passage  way, 
obliquely  across  docks  and  piers,  from  near  the  most  north- 
wardly end  of  West  street,  to  the  southerly  end  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Avenue.  The  Legislature  of  the  State  has  for  some 
time  past  entertained  the  project  of  widening  West  street  to 
one  hundred  feet ;  and  a  short  time  ago,  (I  think  the  session 
before  last,)  an  act  passed  both  houses,  to  widen  West  street, 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width.  But  as  the  Bill  con- 
tained a  provision  to  charge  a  large  portion  of  the  cost  (of  the 
projected  Great  City  Improvement,)  on  the  city  at  large,  and 


23 


also  because  the  Governor  thought  that  the  City  itself,  without 
farther  Legislative  enactment,  had  the  power  to  inaugurate 
such  an  improvement,  he  interposed  his  veto,  and  the  bill 
failed  to  become  a  law. 

For  general  commercial  purposes,  I  submit,  that  the  width 
of  the  outside  westwardly  street  of  the  City,  should  be  at  least 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet ;  scarcely  any  structure  would  be 
destroyed  or  injured  by  making  such  an  improvement,  and  it 
is  believed,  that  most  of  the  buildings,  which  would  be  affected, 
are  on  city  property,  and  were  built  on  sufferance,  subject  to 
abatement  at  any  time  by  the  City  authorities.  Then  we 
should  have  one  outside  western  street  or  avenue,  nearly  on 
an  air-line,  from  the  Battery  to  Spuyten  Duyvil,  (the  two  ends 
of  the  City,)  of  150  feet  in  width  ;  stores,  etc.  on  the  East  side 
thereof,  and  the  Bulkhead  line  on  the  West,  with  piers  extend- 
ing into  the  Bay  therefrom.  This  bulkhead,  and  all  the  piers, 
should  be  built  of  Stone  and  Iron.  No  City  in  the  ivorld,  could 
build  stone  structures  of  this  description,  at  so  small  a  cost,  in 
such  a  locality,  as  the  City  of  New  York. 

Millions  of  tons  of  the  best  description  of  stone,  already 
blasted,  now  lie  at  the  foot  of  Palisade  rocks,  on  the  shore  of 
New  Jersey,  opposite  this  city,  transportable  by  scows,  with- 
out cartage,  direct  to  the  Bulkhead,  and  piers  to  be  erected. 

To  show  how  cheaply  this  stone  can  be  obtained,  the  Castle 
of  San  Juan  de  Ulloa,  at  Vera  Cruz,  Mexico,  Fortress  Monroe, 
on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  Delaware  Breakwater,  were 
built  largely  from  that  stone. 

Before  so  great  a  work  could  be  properly  undertaken,  be- 
fore the  idea  could  for  a  moment  be  entertained,  of  placing 
this  great  superincumbent  weight  of  stone,  on  unseen  founda- 
tions, the  wisdom  of  the  Commissioners  of  Docks,  required 
them  to  call  to  their  aid,  the  most  eminent  engineering  talent ; 
and  we  find  that  they  availed  themselves  of  the  services  of 
General  George  B.  McClellan  as  their  Engineer-in-Chief,  who 
is  devoting  his  time,  and  eminent  talents  to  the  work.  It  ap- 
pears "  that  they  have  made  six  lines  of  soundings,  from  the 
Battery  to  Sixtieth  street  on  the  West  side,  and  for  two  months 
past  have,"  as  I  quote  from  a  public  statement,  "  had  steam 
machines  boring  through  the  mud  bottom,  to  measure  the  depth 


24 


of  the  hard-pan,  and  fiud  suitable  foundation  for  such 
weighty  structures";  and  it  is  further  said,  "  that  in  these  sound- 
"  ings  and  surveys  the  most  intricate  points  connected  with 
"the  channels,  and  currents,  of  the  rivers,  have  received  careful 
"study.  The  most  difficult  problems  have  been  solved,  a 
"  complete  map  of  the  water  front,  has  been  made,  and  the 
"  plans  of  the  Board  are  suitably  maturing."  "  These  plans,"  I 
continue  my  quotation,  "  cannot  yet  be  made  public,  but  the 
"  solidity  of  piers,  and  the  method  of  construction,  and  the 
"  breadth  of  the  river  street,  foreshadowed  in  a  recent  speech 
"  of  the  Mayor,  will  be  adequate  to  the  transportation  of  freight 
"  and  passengers."  Now  on  this  Bulkhead  line,  and  occupy- 
ing fifty  feet  in  width  of  the  proposed  widened  street  and 
avenue,  should  be  erected  substantial  warehouses,  built  en- 
tirely of  stone  and  iron,  say  'of  fifteen  feet  elevation,  leaving 
two  cartways,  right  and  left  to  each  pier.  Place  on  these 
structures  four  pair  of  steel  rails,  the  two  center  pair  for  a 
through  express  track,  and  the  two  outer  pair  for  way  tracks. 
Two,  three,  or  more  of  these  stone  wharves  or  stone  piers,  for 
Depots,  should  be  selected  in  various  localities,  and  be  built 
up  to  two,  three,  or  more  stories  in  height;  the  second  floor 
just  above  the  traveled  cartways  to  be  on  the  grade  of  the 
railroad  tracks.  These  floors  should  all  have  hatchways  or 
hoistways  therein,  the  floors  above  the  railroad  tracks  being 
for  relief,  when  crowded  with  freight  in  transitu.  At  night, 
when  passenger  travel  might  be  partially  suspended,  freight 
cars  from  Milwaukie,  Chicago,  Cincinati,  Omaha,  San  Fran- 
cisco— could  be  filled  with  freight,  direct  from  sea  going  vessels ; 
or  be  detained  on  the  freight  pier,  over  days  for  that  purpose  ; 
and  be  ultimately  passed  off  the  Island  to  their  destinations ; 
and  vice  versa,  merchandise  could  pass  direct  from  the  cars 
on  ship  board. 

In  time,  Merchants  in  the  far  west,  (if  there  should  be  such 
a  thing  then  els  far  west,)  will  import  direct  from  Europe  and 
Africa,  to  ports  on  the  Pacific,  and  intermediate  stations,  per 
railroad,  via  New  York  City,  the  United  States  placing  Cus- 
tom House  locks  on  cars,  to  their  destination ;  and  duties  will 
bs  made  payable  at  those  western  points  ;  whilst  teas,  and  silks, 
and  spices  from  India,  will  be  shipped  IN  bond,  under  Custom 


25 


House  locks,  to  Europe,  via  New  York  per  rail ;  and  the  Bonds 
for  the  delivery  in  Europe  may  be  executed  either  in  San  Fran- 
cisco or  New  York,  as  may  suit  the  convenience  of  Asiatic  Con- 
signors. 

Kapid  Transit. 

The  great  daily  transportation  of  passengers,  to  and  from  the 
upper  portion  of  the  City,  and  Westchester  County,  would  be 
accomplished  with  great  celerity.  With  lightning  speed  through 
from  Spuyten  Duyvil,  Fort  Washington,  Manhattanville,  or  any 
other  fixed  point  for  through  passengers  ;  could  pass  to  the 
Battery  in  fifteen  minutes ;  and  from  thence  even  up  as  far  as 
Canal  street,  by  Omnibus  or  horse  cars ;  for  I  think  that  through 
passengers,  would  gain  time,  by  taking  the  express  trains, 
provided  their  business  arrangements  called  them  to  points 
below,  and  even  perhaps  as  far  north  as  Canal  street.  Way 
passengers  on  the  two  outside  way  tracks  could  be  landed  at 
various  points;  could  not  be  injured  by  the  extra  rapid  whirl 
of  express  trains ;  for  the  express  track  should  be  fenced  off, 
by  neat  iron  guards  from  the  way  tracks,  so  that  no  possible 
obstruction  could  occur  on  the  express  tracks  ;  and  portions  of 
these  fence  guards  at  Depots  could  be  temporarily  removed 
at  night,  during  the  suspension  of  passenger  travel  so  as  to 
pass  freight  and  empty  cars  into  and  from  depots. 

The  sub-structures,  fifty  feet  deep,  and  fifteen  feet  in  height, 
could  be  very  advantageously  used  for  sixteen  miles  in  length, 
(deducting  therefrom  the  width  of  piers,  which  would  of  course 
be  open,)  for  storage  of  Iron,  Cotton,  <fec,  Coopers,  Sailmakers, 
Trunk  shops,  Ferry  houses,  <fec. 

Municipal  regulations  now  require  that  steam  transit  shall 
proceed  at  a  reduced  rate  of  speed  on  the  Hudson  River  Bail 
Boad  below  Sixtieth  street ;  and  the  increasing  population  of 
the  City  will  soon  require  that  that  point  shall  be  extended 
farther  northward,  thereby  throwing  greater  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  rapid  transportation  of  passengers  by  the  present 
railway  accommodations. 

The  new,  thorough,  magnificent  and  costly  freight  depot,  now 
constructed  by  the  Hudson  River,  New  York  Central  and  Har- 


26 


lem  Railroads,  on  Hudson  street,  (the  former  site  of  St.  John's 
Park,)  though  well  designed  as  a  building,  is  far  behind  the 
age  in  its  locality.  Ere  long  it  will  be  many  miles  in  the  in- 
terior of  a  densely  populated  city,  and  every  laden  car  drawn 
to  or  from  its  door,  and  especially  trains  of  freight  cars  drawn 
by  Dummy  Engines,  as  now ;  must  be  subject  to  the  difficulties, 
dangers  and  obstructions,  constantly  occurring  in  a  crowded 
citv.  This  Depot,  however,  (to  save  its  cost,)  notwithstanding 
its  ill  advissed  location,  might  be  utilized  with  the  project  which 
I  am  now  advocating,  of  a  bulkhead  line  Railroad ;  by  connect- 
ing the  second  story  of  the  St.  John's  Park  Depot,  by  an 
Arcade  or  Elevated  Railroad  with  the  bulkhead  line  railroad 
over  Hubert  street ;  thusconnecting  that  depot  with  pier  de- 
pots, and  the  bulkhead  railroad ;  and  this  would  leave  the  St. 
John's  Hudson  street  depot,  first  story,  or  ground  floor,  for 
valuable  storage  purposes. 

And  now  allow  me  for  a  very  few  minutes  to  diverge  from 
strictly  West  Side  matters,  to  which  I  have  thus  far  confined 
myself,  to  refer  to  the  project  for  utilizing  the  Fourth  Avenue 
for  rapid  travel ;  to  the  new  passenger  depot  now  in  course 
of  erection  by  the  same  companies  which  have  erected  the 
freight  depots  at  St.  John's  Park.  The  idea  urged  by  many  is 
to  make  an  open  dug- way,  through  Fourth  Avenue,  (which  is 
140  feet  in  width)  from  45th  street  (the  new  passenger  depot 
just  referred  to)  northward,  so  as  to  avoid  the  dangers  arising 
at  the  several  street  crossings,  now  on  the  same  grade  with  the 
Harlem  Railroad  track ;  but  the  largest  and  most  costly  pas- 
senger depot  ever  erected  in  this  country,  extending  from  42nd 
street  to  4oth  street,  covering  43rd  street  and  44th  street,  and 
half  the  width  of  the  Fourth  Avenue  is  now  nearly  completed  ; 
and  without  any  calculation  having  been  made  for  this  pro- 
posed depressed  grade  of  the  dugway.  This  new  depot  has  no 
basement  or  cellar,  into  which  the  projected  dug-way  railroad 
could  enter  ;  and  I  therefore  submit,  that  that  depot  would  be 
sacrificed  for  railroad  purposes  should  the  dug-way  be  made. 
Although  a  dug-way  road  through  that  avenue  would  be  far 
preferable  to  the  present  mode  of  having  railroad  tracks  on 
the  same  grade  with  street  travel  crossings. 

To  return  from  my  digression. 


27 


By  the  plan  which  I  have  submitted  for  tracks  and  depots 
on  the  "  West  Side  Railroad"  the  highest  rate  of  speed  can 
always  be  attained  by  express  trains  ;  the  Depots  can  always 
be  readily  reached;  the  greatest  facilities  will  be  afforded, 
when  reached  ;  foreign  freight  may  at  once  be  received  from, 
or  discharged  on  ship  board;  and  merchants  will  thereby 
avoid  the  usual  onerous  charges  for  cartage,  cooperage,  &c., 
to  which  freight  to  and  from  ship  board  is  now  constantly 
subjected. 

The  Railroad  now  in  the  course  of  construction  from  Spuy- 
ten  Duyvil,  on  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  eastwardly  across 
Westchester  County,  and  the  upper  end  of  this  island,  to  deep 
water  on  Long  Island  Sound  will  of  course  afford  a  facility  to 
freight  passing  across  this  continent;  by  allowing  freight  to 
be  delivered  (and  received)  direct  from,  and  into  sea  going 
vessels,  from  Railroad  cars ;  as  soon  as  suitable  stone  piers, 
wharves  and  depots  shall  have  been  constructed  at  its  eastern 
termination.  Bat  it  will  readily  strike  the  mind  of  the  most 
casual  observer  that  such  a  project  of  erecting  a  new  city,  at 
a  point  which  New- York  City  will  itself  reach  at  some  future 
day,  can  not  be  compared  to  the  plan  herein  proposed,  of  caus- 
ing the  present  river  front  of  the  city  itself,  on  the  Hudson 
River  and  Bay,  to  be  made  available,  not  only  to  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  Spuyten  Duyvil  arrangement  can  offer,  but 
also  to  afford  the  necessary  and  immediate  facility  to  the  pre- 
sent City  of  New-York,  to  avail  itself  of  the  prospective  travel 
of  passengers  and  freight,  to  and  from  its  already  erected 
stores  and  hotels. 

Besides  which,  we  have  the  stone  material  wherewith  to 
construct  there  erections  on  the  West  Side ;  whereas  by  the 
Spuyten  Duyvil  arrangement,  this  or  any  other  deposit  of  stone, 
can  only  be  availed  of,  by  further  and  expensive  transporta- 
tion to  the  proposed  site  for  the  new  city. 

It  may  also  be  a  matter  of  deep  consideration  at  this  time, 
when  railroads  are  projected  on  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
Hudson,  and  bridges  entertained  to  span  that  beautiful  river ; 
whether  too  much  delay  on  the  part  of  the  denizens  of  this 
city,  in  carrying  out  these  projected  depots  for  the  coming 
freight  from  India  may  not  cause  the  erection  of  a  receiving 


28 


city,  on  the  shore  of  New  Jersey ;  from  which  to  sea,  all  this 
coming  freight  may  be  directly  exported  ;  and  freights  from 
Europe  to  India,  from  steamers  into  railroad  cars  on  its  way 
to  San  Francisco,  or  on  the  reverse  route  to  the  New  Jersey 
depots,  be  received,  without  reaching  our  city  at  all. 

This,  gentlemen,  would  have  been  the  close  of  my  address, 
to  the  delivery  of  which  I  was  invited  by  your  President,  had 
I  not  observed  since  this  was  written,  in  that  spirited  and  en- 
terprising journal,  the  The  Neic-York  Evening  Mail,  last  week, 
the  article  headed  "  The  trade  of  a  Continent."  "  A  new  depot 
for  its  accommodation."  "  The  future  Aharsimus  Cove."  "  What 
is  to  be  done  there."  Time  would  not  permit  my  reading  that 
article  in  length,  after  your  kind  indulgence  thus  far.  Pray 
get  it  and  read  it,  each  of  you  who  feel  an  interest  in  such 
matters.  After  speaking  of  the  cost  of  land,  water  rights,  <fcc, 
in  connection  with  the  proposed  erection  on  the  New  Jersey 
shore  of  edifices  for  the  coming  trade,  the  article  from  the 
Mail  says:  "The  cost  of  making' the  improvements  alone 
described,  including  elevated  passenger  railway  and  depot, 
when  all  is  fully  completed  according  to  plans  laid  down,  will 
be  more  than  Sixteen  Millions  of  Dollars."  And  this  is  one 
Company,  on  the  New  Jersey  shore  !  Do  pray  read  that  arti- 
cle in  connection  with  my  subject. 


On  the  subject  of  Kapid  Transit,  by  an  elevated  road.  Mr. 
E.  M.  Baknum,  then  spoke  as  follows : 

Gentlemen : 

Ten  years  have  passed  since  the  question  of  rapid  transit  on 
Manhattan  Island  became  one  of  the  leading  problems  of  the 
day.  With  each  annually  recurring  session  of  the  State  Leg- 
islature comes  a  crop  of  new  plans  and  schemes  for  solving 
this  problem — a  contest  for  charters  to  construct  new  roads. 
In  the  hope  that  carefully  prepared  and  tabulated  statements 
of  the  amount,  cost,  expenses,  profit  and  other  incidents  of 
metropolitan  travel  for  a  term  of  years,  may  aid  in  inspiring 


29 


legislative  and  executive  action,  in  inducing  capital  into  some 
practical  work,  and  in  aiding  to  effect  some  speedy  relief  in 
this  matter,  the  following  facts  and  suggestions  are  submitted  : 
The  figures  in  the  tables  are  gathered  from  the  State  Rail- 
road Engineer's  reports,  and  may  be  relied  upon  as  correct. 


COST  OF  CONSTRUCTION  AND  EQUIPMENTS  OF  THE  SEVERAL  STREET^ 
RAILROADS   IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK,  WITH  LENGTH  OF 
DOUBLE   TRACK,  NUMBER   OF  CARS   AND    HORSES,  AND 
AVERAGE  COST,  PER  MILE,  OF   EACH  ROAD,  COM- 
PILED FROM  OFFICIAL  REPORTS  FOR  1869  I 


NAME  OP  ROAD. 

Cost  of  Koad  »nd 
Equipments. 

.Miles  or  Doub.e 
Track. 

No.  of 
Cars. 

No.  of 
Horses. 

Average  ro»t 

per  mile. 
(.Apioxiin'e) 

Bleecker  St.  &  Fulton  Ferry.  . 

$1,762,72-1.56 

6  m.  50  ch. 

50 

400 

$271,188 

Cental  Park,  N.  &  E.  River. . 

1,627.020.64 

12  m. 

130 

809 

135.585 

Dry  Dock,  E.  B'way  &  Battery 

859,179.76 

10  m.  63  ch, 

110 

806 

80,826 

42d  St.  &  Grand  St.  Ferry.  .  .. 

1,052.479.39 

5m.  13  ch. 

53 

427 

205.161 

Second  Avenue  

1,914.446.59 

8  m. 

110 

661 

239,306 

Third  Avenue  

2,770,000.00 

8  m. 

183 

1,600 

346,250 

Fourth  Avenue  

875,000.00 

3  m.  50  ch. 

88 

400 

250,000 

1,510,222.50 

4  m. 

76 

771 

377,555 

Broadway  &  Seventh  Avenue. 

522.894.8t3 

8m. 

109 

778 

65,362 

Eighth  Avenue  

1,527.023.50 

9  m. 

157 

851  169,669 

474,197.96 

 L  

6  m.  10  ch. 

50 

210 

77,737 

Total  

814.895,189.76 

- 

81m.  26  ch. 

1,116  7.713  $184,200 

Of  cars  reported  by  the  Second  Avenue  road,  nine  were 
dummies.  The  cost  of  construction  for  the  Fourth  Avenue 
road  is  estimated,  no  official  statement  beiug  made  separate 
from  the  Harlem  Railroad  Company's  annual  report.  The 
foregoing  statement  of  costs,  includes  lands,  buildings,  fixtures, 
sidings,  and  land  damages,  and  represents  amounts  of  both 
funded  and  floating  debts,  in  addition  to  paid  up  stock  as  re- 
ported by  each  road.  The  comparative  low  cost  of  some  roads 
may  be  owing  to  either  of  two  causes,  viz. — that  those  compa- 
nies have  expended  little  for  lands  and  buildings,  or  have  not 
largely  watered  their  stock.  But  the  total  average  cost  per 
mile  of  the  81  miles,  26  chains  of  double  track  street  railroads, 
laid  in  New-York  City,  up  to  1869,  has  reached  $184,200. 


30 


TOTAL  RECEIPT  FROM  PASSENGER  FARES,  AND  COST  OF  OPER- 
ATING   AND   REPAIRS   UPON    THE   SEVERAL  STREET 
RAILROADS   IN  THE    CITY    OF   NEW-YORK,  FOR 
THE   YEARS,    1868   AND    1869,  COMPILED 
FROM  OFFICIAL  REPORTS: 


»       NAME  OF  KOAD. 

Receipts  from  Passengers.  1  Cost  of  Operating  &  Eepairs. 

NET  GAIN 
IN 

TWO  YEARS. 

1868.      1      186y.  1868. 

1869. 

$239,697.48 
538.646.37 
502,08:. 42 
251,803.87 
414,797.86 

1,039,839.58 
350.000.06 
497,299.15 
459,898.42 
558,967.80 
97,728.19 

Bleecker  St.  &  Fulton  Ferry. 
Central  Park,  N.  &  E.  River. . 
Dry  D'k,  E.  B'way  &  Battery 

42d  St.  &  Grand  St.  Ferry  

Second  Avenue  

Third  Avenue  

Sixth  Avenue  

Broadway  <St  Seventh  Avenue . 

Total  

$297,844  58  $336,569.22 
499,360.08!  578,327.84 
654.688.73|  733,534.34 
334,972.181  366.847.73 
507.179.62      523  431.45 

1,239.296.55  3,386.634.41 
425,411.82     451  996.74 
600,182.17      677,25]. 80 
643,227.21  690,968.10 
778,941.1(1  805,532.81 
91,334.701  103,445.67 

$241,933.13 
465,257.26 
508,583.79 
241,698.71 
431,682.06 
922,827.09 
325,000.00 
441,942.47 
461,307.65 
557,877.77 
b7,089.42 

$152,783.19 
73,784.19 
377,557.86 
208,317.33 
184,13115 
663  264.29 
202,408.56 
338,192.35 
412,989.24 
467,628.34 
9,962.76 

$6.072.439.74  S6,544.540  11 

$4,685,199.35 

64.950,760.14 

*3, 081,01 9, 36 

The  cost  of  operating  and  repairs  on  the  Fourth  Avenue 
line  is  estimated,  as  this  item  for  that  road  is  not  in  eluded  in  the 
Harlem  Railroad  Company's  annual  reports.  Receipts  from 
sales  of  horses,  manure,  iron,  and  other  old  materials,  adver- 
tising in  cars,  rents,  &c,  about  equal,  in  some  cases  exceed 
other  expenses  not  included  in  "  operating  and  repairs,"  leav- 
ing the  above  net  earnings  to  pay  interest  on  funded  debts, 
and  dividends  on  stock. 

From  the  foregoing  tables,  it  may  be  observed  that  during* 
the  year  1869,  each  horse  upon  these  roads  has  performed  the 
average  labor  of  drawing  14,692  passengers,  and  earning  for 
the  companies,  $850. 

Each  car  has  transported  an  average  of  over  100,000  passen- 
gers, and  earned  $6,000. 

On  the  Third  Avenue  line,  the  average  to  each  car  has  ex- 
ceeded 136,500  passengers,  and  the  earnings  nearly  $8,000, 
and  each  horse  has  averaged  an  annual  receipt  of  $900. 

On  the  Eighth  Avenue  line,  the  horses  have  done  the  best 
for  the  companies,  averaging  $950  to  each  horse. 

Some  horses  have  been  in  the  employ  of  these  companies 
over  eight  years. 

The  total  net  gain  of  these  roads,  is  nearly  25  per  cent,  of 
the  receipt  of  passenger  fares,  and  over  10  per  cent,  upon  the 


31 


total  cost.  The  Broadway  and  Seventh  Avenue  exhibits  the 
largest  percentage,  followed  by  the  Eighth  Avenue,  the  42d 
Street  and  Grand  Street  Ferry  and  the  Sixth  Avenue. 

Ninth  Avenue  and  the  Belt  roads  alone,  rate  below  7  per 
cent,  net  annual  income  upon  their  large  reported  cost. 

NUMBER  OF  PASSENGERS  TRANSPORTED  ON  THE  VARIOUS 
STREET  RAILROAD  CARS  IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW- 
YORK,  DURING  A  TERM  OF  FIVE  YEARS, 
COMPILED    FROM  OFFICIAL 
REPORTS : 

Name  of  Road.      j     1865     j     1866     1     1867  1868     j  1869~ 

Bl'ker  St.  &  Fulton  F'yj  1,700.576;  4,669,750  4,906,055i  4,975,876  5,458,084 

C'l  Park,  N.  &E.  River!  8,923,617'  9,314,904  9,026.850'  8,322,668  9,638.797 

DryD'k,  E.  By  &Bat'yj  5,456,822!  6,700,71510,421,074  12,908,222  12,255,249 

42d  St.  &  Grand  St.  F'yj  3,794,372!  4,360,000;  4,933,233  5,582,86*.'  6,114,129 


Second  Avenue  !  6,402,056|  6,857.224j  7,537,578;  8,452,993;  8,723,857 

Third  Avenue  J  17,000,000  20, 000, 000;20, 000, 000;  22,000,000;  25,000,000 

Fourth  Avenue  |  7,193,476|  7,391,683;  7,049,823^  7,090,197;  7,533.279 

Sixth  Avenue  I  7,737,672)  8,323,7o7!  9,015,251!  10,003,036  11,287,530 

B'way  &Seventh  Ave..  ;10,036,963  11,051, 888:12,182,697'  11,077,544  11,573,041 

Eighth  Avenue  |11,402,236, 12,095,602;  12,701,600j  12,982,352  14,009,267 

Ninth  Avenue  I  1,490,284|  l,561,547j  1,801,915!  1,522,243;  1,726,093 


Total  181,138,074:92,327, 050^9, 576,076;  104,918,000  113,319,326 


Total  in  five  years  491,278,526 


The  increase  in  1866,  was  13  4-5  per  cent. ;  in  1867,  7  4-5 
per  cent. ;  in  1868,  b\  per  cent. ;  in  1869,  8  per  cent.  Full  re- 
ports for  1870  have  not  been  published,  but  some  of  the  roads 
for  that  year,  have  not  maintained  a  corresponding  increase. 
With  the  opening  of  the  Madison  Avenue  line,  and  Cross-Town 
line  in  Prince  and  Houston  Streets,  the  total  increase  for  the 
year,  will  be  about  5  per  cent,  making  119,000,000  passengers. 
With  an  annual  increase  of  5  per  cent,  the  number  of  passen- 
gers in  city  cars  foi\1876,  the  year  of  our  centennial  national 
anniversary,  will  reach  160,000,000 ;  for  1880,  it  will  exceed 
'200,000,000 ;  and  during  the  sixteen  years,  from  1865  to  1880, 
inclusive,  will  produce  a  grand  aggregate  of  more  than 
2,200,000,000,  or  nearly  twice  the  population  of  the  globe. 

As  showing  the  paramount  importance  of  this  rapid  transit 


32 


problem,  it  may  be  here  noted,  that  although  five  minutes  of 
time  saved  to  each  passenger  in  street  cars,  would  be  counted 
a  trifle  indeed,  but 

"  Think  naught  a  trifle,  though  it  small  appear, 
Sands  form  the  mountains,  moments  make  the  year, 
And  trifles  life  "— 

those  very  five  minutes,  during  either  1869  or  1870,  make  more 
than  a  thousand  years.  All  time  spent  in  street-cars  is  time 
absolutely  lost.  To  the  toiling  millions  a  saving  at  either  end 
of  their  route  would  be  so  much  added  to  the  sum  and  value 
of  human  life ;  golden  hours  enjoyed  at  home  and  with  the 
family,  gained  in  domestic  labor  or  in  health-giving  recreation  ; 
or  time  counted  at  the  shop,  the  factoiw,  the  store,  adding  new 
value  at  the  office,  the  market,  or  on  Change.  Hanging  by 
the  strap,  is  time  more  than  lost — it  is  hours  in  the  pillory,  at 
the  stake,  on  the  rack  of  our  refined  modern  barbarism.  Five 
minutes  gain  to  each  passenger,  for  the  years  1865  to  1870, 
would  make  an  aggregate  saving  of  5,666  years ;  and  if  the 
average  time  of  transit  by  each  passenger,  has  been  only 
twenty  minutes,  there  has  been  spent  in  this  manner  of  life, 
during  that  short  period  an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  23,000 
years.  Five  minutes  saved  to  each  passenger  during  the 
period  from  1865  to  1880,  would  make  a  total  gain  of  over 
20,000  years  ;  and  the  average  of  twenty  minutes,  by  each  thus 
irrevocably  doomed  to  be  spent  on  the  rack  or  the  straps  of 
the  street-cars,  appals  us  with  an  enormous  aggregate  of 
80,000  years. 

All  persons,  who  for  a  series  of  years  must  use  this  mode  of 
transit  from  their  homes  above  42d  street,  to  business  below 
Canal  street,  pass  upon  an  average,  one  month  of  each  year 
in  horse-cars ;  in  twenty-four  years  of  a  busy  life,  each  must, 
therefore,  throw  away  two  years  in  this  wretched  existence. 
How  many  millions  does  the  city  thus  annually  lose  in  valua- 
ble time  and  wasted  energies  ? 

WHAT  NEW  YORK  NEEDS. 

With  all  due  deference  to  the  opinions  of  many  able  en- 
gineers who  have  pronounced  against  one  system  and  in  fayor 


33 


of  another  system  of  roads,  we  maintain  the  following  propo- 
sition as  incontrovertible : 

First. — What  is  most  needed  to  accommodate  our  metro- 
politan travel  are  enlarged  facilities  for  transit  along  the  same 
routes  on  which  street  cars  now  run.  The  keen  eye  and 
ready  hand  of  capital  have  located  and  constructed  these 
roads  just  where  public  necessity  and  public  patronage  was 
greatest.  The  difficulty  with  tliem  now  is,  that  they  cannot, 
either  in  capacity  or  speed,  be  made  adequate  to  the  increased 
and  increasing  demands  of  the  public. 

Second — Quick  relief,  is  imperatively  demanded.  A  plan  is 
wanted  which  will  admit  of  speedy  construction.  It  must  be 
practicable  to  complete  at  least  one  road  from  the  City  Hall 
to  Harlem  within  the  year  1871,  and  before  a  second  winter 
comes  around  must  warrant  the  extension  of  double  or  qua- 
druple facilities  to  our  already  crowded  thorough fares\ 

Third — A.  system  of  construction  must  be  offered  which  will 
invite  capital  by  reason  of  its  economy,  capacity,  durability, 
and  safety  ;  a  system  which  is  not  too  cumbrous  or  gigantic  in 
detail,  which  with  equal  facility  can  be  operated  as  different 
sections  are  constructed,  and  which  may  be  extended  as  ne- 
cessities require.  Will  it  pay?  is  the  universal  solvent  for  all 
plans  or  systems. 

Fonrtli — Various  lines  of  city  transit  are  required,  by  which 
all  up-town  residents— those  who  live  on  either  side  of  the  Is- 
land not  less  than  those  centrally  located — can,  without  delay, 
be  transported  to  the  lower  part  of  the  city;  by  which,  also, 
the  vast  throngs  of  people  from  the  suburbs  that  hourly  ar- 
rive upon  the  numerous  ferry,  railway,  and  steamer  lines,  can 
reach  other  portions  of  the  city  without  difficulty,  and  which 
shall  never  be  interrupted  by  mud.  deep  snows,  civic  o-r  mili- 
tary processions,  or  blockade  of  vehicles. 

Fifth — A.s  along  every  thoroughfare  for  rapid  trnrsit  of  per- 
sons there  is  a  demand  for  equal  facilities  foi  quick  h'fuspor- 


34 


tation  of  baggage,  parcels,  packages,  express,  and  mail  matter, 
no  plan  for  the  city  railway  of  the  future  can  be  considered 
complete  or  acceptable,  which  does  not  fully  relieve  both  these 
public  necessities.  A  pneumatic  dispatch  should  be  an  in- 
tegral part  of  the  plan. 

Sixth — The  avenues  form  the  great  routes  of  travel  for  the 
million  residents  of  Manhattan  Island.  In  the  growth  of 
the  city  northward,  the  tendency  of  trade,  of  shops,  stores, 
banks  and  business  houses  is  upon  these  avenues,  that  of  pri- 
vate residences  being  upon  the  cross  streets. 

THE  ELEVATED  ROAD  THE  PROPER  SYSTEM. 

These  considerations  may  be  speedily  realized  by  elevated 
roads  constructed  upon  substantial  and  graceful  iron  colums 
and  arches,  with  iron  or  steel  beams  and  rails  ;  one  marginal 
line  belting  the  Island,  and  two  or  more  central  lines  travers- 
ing these  avenues  and  the  streets  leading  most  directly  to  the 
vicinity  of  City  Hall  and  Battery. 

That  cumbrous,  unsightly,  and  unsafe  structure  in  Green- 
wich street  has  prejudiced  the  public  mind  against  elevated 
railways.  Whenever  a  plan  for  an  elevated  road  to  be  built 
over  streets  and  avenues  is  proposed,  most  minds  at  once  re- 
vert to  that  style  of  construction,  which  seems  akin  to  an  ex- 
periment for  making  a  table  stand  firmly  on  two  legs,  or  to  its 
endless  chain  motive  power,  with  a  result  much  like  that  at- 
tending the  knight's  effort  at  lifting  himself  over  a  gate  by  tug- 
ging at  the  seat  of  his  breeches. 

This  is  'pre-eminently  the  age  of  iron  and  steel.  As  the  vast 
net  work  of  iron  tracks  on  every  continent,  has  made  the  turn- 
pike almost  obsolete,  and  the  iron  locomotive  in  speed  out- 
strips the  fleetest  horse ;  as  iron  steamships  are  rapidly  sur- 
planting  wooden  hulls  upon  river  and  ocean ;  as  electric  cur- 
rents on  wire  and  cable  have  well  nigh  driven  the  post-boy 
and  the  semaphore  from  off  the  earth ;  as  substantial  iron 
warehouses  and  iron  bridges,  and  those  beautiful  iron  hotels 
and  palaces  of  trade  along  Broadway  and  other  streets  of  this 
city,  surpass  like  structures  of  wood  or  stone,  so  surely  and 


35 


speedily  may  we  hope  to  see  perfect  structures  in  iron  and  steel 
elevated  railways  serving  the  purpose  of  our  immense  metro- 
politan transit.  Horse  cars  in  New  York  have  passed  the  day 
of  their  greatest  usefulness.  They  have  served  their  genera- 
tion faithfully,  but  they  must  give  way  to  something  better. 
The  spirit  of  progress,  the  expansion  of  business,  the  growth 
of  the  metropolis,  imperatively  demand  something  which  shall 
keep  step  with  the  rapid  march  and  music  of  this  last  decade 
of  our  nation's  centenary. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  CONSTRUCTING  AN  ELEVATED  ROAD. 

The  general  outline  and  main  features  of  a  practical  plan 
for  elevated  railways  to  be  constructed  of  iron  and  steel  along 
one  or  several  of  the  avenues  and  streets  of  the  city,  which 
were  presented  by  us  more  than  five  years  ago,  and  which  are 
substantially  described  in  the  published  transactions  of  the 
American  Institute  for  1868,  are  as  follows  : 

First — Wrought  iron  columns  formed  by  a  combination  of 
light  plate,  angle,  and  channel  iron,  so  united  as  to  obtain 
greatest  strength  with  least  practicable  material  and  perfect 
symmetry  of  design;  these  columns  to  stand  just  within  the 
curbstone  line,  so  as  not  to  offer  collision  with  drays  or  heavy 
wagon-hubs,  to  be  placed  only  at  points  in  direct  lines  between 
lots  or  store-fronts,  and  to  displace  only  telegraph-poles,  lamp- 
posts, or  awning-posts,  and,  by  simple  modifications,  to  restore 
better  supports  in  place  of  all  these  incumbrances  on  the  side- 
walk. 

Second. — Symmetrical  wrought-iron  arches  springing  from 
the  columns,  and  spanning  the  street  or  avenue  at  intervals 
of  about  fifty  feet,  with  a  clear  height  of  twenty  or  more  feet 
above  the  pavement,  upon  which  are  placed  two  tracks  for 
independent  up  and  down-town  travel,  and  the  whole  firmly 
braced  without  any  attachment  to  buildings  along  the  route. 

By  strips  of  rubber  or  wood  intervening  at  the  connec- 
tions or  jointures  of  iron,  and  at  the  seats  of  beams  and  rails, 
the  operating  of  the  road  will  be  rendered  almost  free  from 
jar,  noise  and  vibration. 


36 


Third — Si  eel  rails  supported  within  and  at  the  bottom  of 
patent;  safety  or  box  beams,  which  for  simplicity  and  economy 
of  construction,  great  sustaining  strength,  and  perfect  safeguard 
against  cars  running  off  the  track,  have  been  pronounced  by 
many  able  engineers  and  practical  men  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  a 
combination  beam  and  rail  for  elevated  railwaj'S,  as  well  as 
railway  bridges.  With  this  beam  it  is  well-nigh  absolutely  im- 
possible for  any  car  to  be  thrown  off  the  track,  either  by  acci- 
dent or  design.  The  wheels  are  hid  from  view,  so  that  a  car 
appears  to  glide,  rather  than  roll  along  the  track,  and  in  the 
event  of  axles  or  wheels  being  broken  it,  will  still  admit  of  pro- 
pulsion at  diminished  speed  upon  safety  rollers  fixed  at  each 
end  of  the  car. 

Fourth. — The  tracks  being  of  narrow  gauge,  only  three  feet 
or  less,  and  the  cars  being  longer  and  lighter  in  proportion 
than  horse-cars,  capable  of  seating  forty  passengers  each,  the 
weight  thereof  will  be  distributed,  and  both  construction  and 
operation  more  economical.  The  entire  structure  being  so 
made  that  snow,  leaves,  or  other  debris  carried  on  the  wind 
cannot  accumulate  thereon,  and  being  paiuted  of  a  light  or  neu- 
tral color,  the  ease  with  which  iron  and  steel  can  be  rolled  and 
riveted  into  beautiful  and  substantial  forms,  will  render  this 
roadway  an  ornament  to  any  avenue,  or  Broad  way,  and  will 
offer  no  interruption  to  light,  and  the  free  uses  of  the  street 
below. 

Fifth. — The  construction  of  elegant  and  lighter  cars,  of  a 
style  especially  adapted  to  the  elevated  way,  without  platforms 
at  the  ends,  but  with  entrances  at  the  sides,  ventilation  secured 
through  bottom  and  top,  the  windows  arranged  to  effectually 
prevent  all  careless  persons  from  spitting  or  dropping  anything 
upon  the  heads  of  persons  below,  but  admitting  a  full  and 
clear  view  of  the  entire  avenue  or  street,  aud  this  road  can  be 
made  the  most  desirable  for  comfort,  pleasure,  and  for  ra- 
pid transit.  And  why  may  we  not  as  well  have  "drawing- 
room  ?'  or  "  silver  palace  "  cars  at  slightly  increased  fares  upon 
our  future  city  railways  as  upon  other  roads? 


37 


Sixth. — Ingress  to  these  cars  being  obtained  only  by  stair- 
ways leading  to  stations  or  waiting-rooms  in  second-story 
front  apartments,  and  thence  across  balconies  on  a  level  with 
the  car  floor,  an  effectual  check  will  be  given  to  the  admission 
of  drunken  or  other  improper  persons,  and  to  the  operations 
of  car  thieves.  Women,  children,  and  infirm  people  .will  have 
equal  facilities  with  all  other  passengers  for  entering  the  cars. 
In  the  street,  or  over  the  avenue  there  will  be  no  iron  stair- 
ways, no  elevated  foot-paths  (as  found  in  almost  all  other  ele- 
vated railway  plans,)  no  railings,  no  floorings,  offering  a  per- 
petual encumbrance,  dripping  with  rain  and  mud,  glazed  with 
ice,  gathering  snow,  or  inviting  loungers  and  crowds  of  gamins. 
No  collection  of  fares  on  the  cars,  but  that  service  performed 
at  entrance  to  the  stations,  which  may  be  located  as  frequent 
as  public  convenience  and  patronage  shall  require,  one  or  many 
in  each  mile.  Cars  exclusively  for  women  and  children,  and 
cars  for  two  or  more  classes  or  rates  of  fare  can  be  provided. 

PNEUMATIC  DESPATCH. 

Seventh  —  A  very  important  feature  in  this  plan,  for  elevated 
railways,  is  the  combination  therewith  of  the  pneumatic  des- 
patch. While  it  is  indispensible  that  heavy  freight  and  pas- 
senger transit  in  a  city,  shall  never  be  put  upon  the  same  tracks, 
yet  it  is  necessary  that  with  all  rapid  passenger  routes,  shall 
be  provided  equally  quick  transmission  for  package,  parcel,  ex- 
press, market  and  mail  matter.  This  is  admirably  provided 
for,  by  one  or  more  light  pneumatic  tubes  between  the  tracks 
and  under  the  cars,  admitting  barrel-shaped  piston  carriages, 
fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  diameter,  and  about  five  feet  in 
length,  in  which  all  baskets,  bundles,  valises,  &c.,too  large  for 
admission  within  the  car,  can  be  checked  and  sent  from  sta- 
tion to  station,  in  advance  of  the  passengers.  Operated  by  a 
current  of  air,  which  is  made  to  pass  through  the  tubes  at 
a  nearly  uniform  and  high  rate  of  speed,  these  pneumatic  tubes 
have  been  proven  a  valuable  apparatus  for  rapid  despatch. 
The  power  for  working  these  tubes,  is  located  in  a  basement  or 
rear  building,  at  either  end  of  the  route,  and  is  wholly  inde- 
pendent of  the  motive  power  for  passenger  cars. 


38 


With  small  tubes,  the  pneumatic  despatch  may  be  made 
as  valuable  an  auxiliary  in  the  commercial  and  business  affairs 
of  the  city,  as  the  steam  engine  or  the  telegraph  wire.  Con- 
structed with  the  elevated  road,  and  having  branches  extend- 
ing into  general  and  station  post  offices,  to  the  various  news- 
paper oijices,  and  to  large  commercial  houses,  all  mail  matter 
may  be  gathered  from  the  Battery  to  Harlem,  morning  and 
evening  papers  delivered  along  the  lines,  and  merchandise  and 
valuable  parcels  expressed  throughout  the  city,  on  the  wings 
of  this  pneumatic  current,  in  less  than  quarter  of  the  time  now 
required,  and  without  possibility  of  delay  or  loss  in  transitu. 

Eighth. — The  motive  power  for  driving  passenger  cars,  should 
be  light  smoke  consuming  steam  dummies.  Capital  will  not 
readily  venture  on  theories,  and  the  million  who  are  now  de- 
layed hanging  to  the  strap  by  the  hour,  want  no  experiments 
in  new  motors.  Steam  we  know  to  be  reliable  at  all  times, 
and  under  all  circumstances.  When  any  other  power  has 
be3n  demonstrated  to  be  better,  safer,  and  more  economical 
than  the  locomotive,  it  can  be  readily  adopted.  The  rapid 
transit  problem  must  not  be  complicated  with  vague  and 
visionary  schemes  of  motion. 

A  small  double  engine,  smokeless  and  almost  noiseless,  with 
power  ample  to  drive  two  cars,  laden  with  forty  or  fifty  passen- 
gers each,  and  so  light  that  two  men  can  lift  the  same  into  or 
out  of  the  car,  is  reliable  beyond  peradventure.  Long  trains 
and  heavy  locomotives  for  an  elevated  railway,  as  displayed 
on  some  plans,  are  not  admissable.  Single,  or  at  most  double, 
cars  should  start  every  minute,  each  having  its  independent 
power,  all  stops  at  stations  made  as  uniform  as  clock  work, 
taking  only  thirty  to  forty-five  seconds  each. 

In  the  London  tunnels,  trains  stop  at  stations  forty-five 
seconds,  and  start  at  a  signal  communicated  by  telegraph 
wire,  from  the  main  station.  On  the  elevated  way,  if  one  en- 
gine is  by  any  possibility  disabled,  the  next  has  a  surplus  of 
power  to  drive  the  delayed  car  over  the  balance  of  the  route. 

Ninth. — This  elevated  road,  can  be  built  and  operated  in  a 
narrow  street,  as  well  as  into  a  broad  avenue.  Columns 


39 


should  not  be  placed  outside  the  curb,  where  they  will  inter- 
fere with  carriages,  drays,  wagons  or  other  vehicles,  and  the 
structure  should  in  no  way  be  attached  to  buildings  along  the 
route.  Public  convenience,  and  other  uses  of  the  highway, 
will  admit  of  no  encroachment  or  abridgment.  Any  increase 
of  cost  in  constructing  along  a  broad  avenue,  will  only  arise 
from  additional  width  of  the  light  iron  arches  spanning  the 
roadway.  From  the  superior  sustaining  strength  of  the  arch, 
an  1  with  the  tracks  placed  near  the  columns,  the  increase  will 
be  comparatively  slight. 

Here  are  the  outlines  of  a  city  railway,  practicable  for  com- 
pletion of  one  double  track  in  a  twelve  month,  which  will  not 
interfere  with  other  uses  of  the  street  during  time  of  con- 
struction ;  which  will  afford  at  all  times,  without  possibilit}-  of 
long  interruption,  a  safe,  speedy,  certain,  commodious,  and 
economical  transit ;  which  will  be  always  free  from  anoyances 
of  dust,  mud,  or  snow,  from  collisions  with  vehicles,  from 
endangering  life  or  limb  to  crowds  of  pedestrians  on  the  street, 
and  from  stoppages  by  a  blockade  of  drays,  military  parades, 
funeral  corteges,  holiday  processions,  monster  meetings,  or 
turn-outs. 

After  all,  any  plan  to  be  adopted,  must  be  within  the  com- 
mand of  capital.  Quick  transit  is  a  question  of  finance,  more 
than  any  other. 

A  double  track  road  upon  this  plan  can  be  built  at  a  cost, 
not  exceeding  $500,000  per  mile.  One  line  from  the  Battery 
to  Harlem,  (say  nine  miles,)  at  an  expenditure  of  not  more  than 
$4,500,000.  Ten  per  cent,  on  this  amount,  $450,000,  the  road 
will  assuredly  pay  from  the  first  year  of  its  construction.  Its 
carrying  capacity,  with  cars  running  as  frequently  as  horse 
cars  upon  the  most  favored  lines,  will  not  be  less  than 
40,000,000  of  passengers  per  annum.  It  may  be  made  equal 
to  any  double  track  tunnel.  In  all  holiday  seasons,  and  times 
of  great  public  processions,  when  surface  lines  are  blocked, 
this  elevated  road  would  have  vastly  increased  numbers. 

Two  very  practicable  routes  for  these  roads,  where  up  and 
down  town  transit  would  be  most  completely  served,  where 
construction  could  be  most  largely  utilized  as  each  section 


40 


was  completed,  and  where  no  necessity  for  demolishing  build- 
ings will  arise,  will  suggest  themselves  to  every  mind  seriously 
considering  this  question  : — 

First. — From  the  foot  of  Broad  street,  through  Broad, 
Nassau,  Chatham,  Bowery  and  Third  Avenue  to  Harlem. 

Second. — From  Battery,  through  Church  to  Canal ;  thence 
by  Waoster,  Laurens  or  Thomson  and  Fourth  streets  to  Sixth 
Avenue;  thence  to  Central  Park,  and  by  58th  Street  to  Ninth 
Avenue  ;  thence  to  Manhattan ville. 

With  some  modifications  of  these  lines,  and  with  connec- 
tions at  the  Battery,  and  the  northern  extremity,  a  complete 
double  track  circuit  can  be  made,  just  where  public  necessity 
for  rapid  transit  is  greatest,  an  1  where,  by  reason  of  assured 
income,  capital  will  readily  solve  the  problem. 


On  the  subject  of  The  present  condition  of  West  Side  Im- 
provements, Mr.  H.  B.  Bacon  spoke  as  follows  : 

Gentlemen : 

The  facts  presented  for  consideration  in  this  paper,  relating 
to  ihe  work  already  accomplished,  the  work  under  way,  and 
the  work  proposed  on  the  West  Side,  are  arranged  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  present  a  careful  and  correct  exhibit  of  the 
condition  of  things,  so  as  to  show  the  present  situation  to  in- 
dicate what  is  demanded  to  complete  the  West  Side,  and  to 
prepare  it  for  actual  occupation. 

As  a  portion  of  the  work  referred  to  was  done  before  'the 
new  charter  came  into  force,  it  will  be  necessary  to  state  some 
of  the  changes  effected  by  it,  in  order  to  obviate  any  misunder- 
standing that  may  arise  from  an  apparently  indiscriminate  use 
of  the  names  of  the  former  Commmissioners  with  those  of  the 
present  Departments.    The  Department  of  Public  Parks  was 


41 


substituted  for  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Central 
Park,  and  the  Department  of  Public  Works,  for  the  Croton 
Aqueduct  Board,  the  Street  Commissioner,  &c. 

The  work  of  the  different  Departments  will  be  taken  up  as 
performed  under  the  control, 

First. — Of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks. 

Secondly. — Of  the  Department  of  Public  Works. 

Department  of  Public  Parks. 

The  following  short  historical  sketch  will  show  how  the  du- 
ties devolved  upon  the  Park  Department  were  gradually  ex- 
tended, until  a  large  portion  of  our  Island  has  come  under  its 
protection. 

The  first  legal  mention  of  what  is  known  as  Central  Park,  is 
found  in  the  Act  of  the  21st  July,  1853,  which  declared  that- 
all  that  parcel  of  land  situated  between  59th  street  and  106th 
street,  Fifth  Avenue  and  Eighth  Avenue,  should  be  a  public 
place.  Messrs.  William  Kent,  Michael  Ulshoeffer,  Luther 
Braclish,  Warren  Brady  and  Jeremiah  Towle,  were  appointed 
the  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assessment,  on  the  17th 
November,  1853,  and  their  report  was  confirmed  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1856.  By  Act  of  1857,  this  public  place  was  en- 
titled Central  Park,  and  placed  under  the  management  of  a 
board  of  eleven  Commissioners,  composed  of  the  following 
gentlemen.  Bobert  J.  Dillon,  James  E.  Cooley,  Charles  H. 
Kussell,  John  F.  Butterworth,  John  A.  C.  Gray,  Waldo 
Hutchins,  Thomas  C.  Fields,  Andrew  H.  Green,  Charles  W. 
Elliot,  William  K.  Strong  and  James  Hogg.  An  Act  of  1859, 
extended  the  park  to  110th  street,  its  present  area.  In  the 
same  year  it  was  enacted  that  the  number  of  members  com- 
posing the  Board  of  Commissioners  should  not  be  more  than 
eleven,  nor  less  than  seven.  In  1864,  Seventh  Avenue,  north 
of  110th  street,  came  under  the  control  of  this  Board  of  Com- 
missioners and  Manhattan  Square  was  incorporated  into  the 
park.  In  1865,  they  were  directed  to  lay  out  all  that  portion 
of  the  Island  north  of  155th  street,  to  regulate  and  widen  Sixth 


42 


Avenue,  north  of  110th  street  and  to  lay  out  and  regulate  the 
grand  Boulevard,  or  Public  Drive.  In  1866,  they  were  directed 
to  lay  out  and  regulate  the  Avenue  St.  Nicholas,  to  extend  and 
widen  Manhattan  street  an<l  to  make  the  59th  street  circle. 

In  1867,  exclusive  power  was  given  them  to  lay  out  and  es- 
tablish streets,  avenues,  roads,  public  squares  or  places,  of 
such  width,  extent  and  direction  as  to  them  seemed  best ; 
also  to  designate  what  part  or  parts  of  existing  streets,  ave- 
nues, roads,  public  squares  or  places  should  be  discontinued ; 
also  to  widen  any  street,  avenue  or  road  now  laid  out,  and 
to  alter  and  amend  the  grade  of  any  street,  avenue  or  road 
retained  by  them,  and  to  establish  new  grades  for  all  other 
streets,  avenues  or  roads  laid  out  by  them,  within  that  part 
of  the  city  situated  between  59th  street  and  155th  street, 
Eighth  Avenue  and  the  Hudson  River,  and  also  within  a 
space,  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  width,  surrounding  Cen- 
tral Park.  In  1868  was  approved  their  plan  for  new  piers  and 
bulk-head  lines  in  the  Hudson  River,  from  55th  street  to 
Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek,  and  on  both  sides  of  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Creek  and  the  Harlem  River,  from  the  Hudson  RiverJ  to  the 
line  of  Third  Avenue.  In  1869,  they  were  directed  to  lay  out 
certain  portions  of  Westchester  County  contiguous  to  this  Is- 
land, and  to  devise  plans  for  transit  across  or  under  the  Har- 
lem River  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek.  In  1870,  the  new  char- 
ter conferred  upon  the  Department  of  Public  Parks  all  the 
rights  and  powers  enjoyed  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
the  Central  Park,  extended  their  jurisdiction  over  all  the 
parks,  squares  and  public  places  in  the  city  and  placed  it  un- 
der the  charge  of  a  board  consisting  of  five  members. 

The  work  performed  under  the  control  of  the  Department  of 
Public  Parks,  considered  in  detail,  is  as  follows  : 

"Nothing  need  be  said  of  the  Central  Park  proper ;  it  may 
be  considered  as  completed,  except  the  erection  of  public  and 
ornamental  structures  upon  it. 

The  other  work  under  the  control  of  this  Department,  is  con- 
sidered in  the  order  in  which  it  was  undertaken. 


43 


Seventh  Avenue  Boulevard. 

The  Act  of  the  15th  April,.  1859,  directed  that  the  Seventh 
Avenue  should  be  widened  to  the  width  of  150  feet  from  110th 
street  to  the  Harlem  Eiver.  Nothing  however  was  done  until 
after  the  Act  of  the  21st  April,  1864,  which  placed  the  work 
under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Cen- 
tral Park.  On  the  27th  July,  1864,  the  Commissioners  of  Es- 
timate and  Assessment  were  appointed,  and  their  report  was 
confirmed  on  the  24th  June,  1865.  The  contract  for  grading 
and  regulating  that  portion  of  the  avenue  between  110th  street 
and  147th  street,  was  awarded  on  the  13th  September,  1866,  to 
Thomas  Crimmins.  The  contract  for  that  portion  between 
147th  street  and  the  Harlem  Eiver,  was  awarded  on  the  7th 
June,  1867,  to  G.  H.  Sullivan  &  Co. 

The  extensive  amount  of  stone  cutting  required  in  the  upper 
section  between  130th  street  and  the  river,  and  the  great  amount 
of  filling  required  in  the  section  below  120th  street,  made  the 
work  of  regulating  this  avenue  very  laborious.  The  work, 
however,  is  now  in  so  forward  a  state  that  the  department  ex- 
pects that  the  substructure  for  the  macadam  pavement  will 
be  placed  this  summer,  and  that  the  work  of  flagging,  curbing, 
guttering,  paving,  <fcc,  will  rapidly  follow. 

The  sewers,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Department  of  Pub- 
lic Works,  are  to  be  placed  beneath  the  sidewalks,  to  conform 
with  the  plan  adopted  by  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Board. 

Sixth  Avenue  Boulevard. 

The  act  of  the  24th  April,  1865,  directed  that  all  that  portion 
of  Sixth  Avenue  between  110th  street  and  the  Harlem  Eiver 
should  be  widened  to  the  width  of  150  feet,  in  like  manner  as 
Seventh  Avenue  ;  the  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assess- 
ment were  appointed  on  the  5th  August,  1865,  and  their  re- 
port was  confirmed  on  the  20th  January,  1868.  The  work  of 
regulating  the  same  was  commenced  the  following  spring  un- 
der the  immediate  supervision  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
Central  Park. 

This  work  is  in  a  verv  forward  condition.    The  avenue  is 


44 


now  mainly  graded  and  the  substructure  for  the  macadam 
pavement  nearly  all  laid.  The  section  between  110th  street 
and  125th  street,  will  be  open  to  the  public  about  the  1st 
April  entirely  completed.  The  sewers,  as  in  Seventh  Avenue, 
are  to  be  placed  beheath  the  sidewalks,  in  conformity  with 
the  same  plan. 

Avenue  St.  Nicholas. 

The  act  of  the  4th  April,  1866,  repealed  the  act  of  the  7th 
April,  1860,  directing  that  the  new  Ninth  Avenue  be  laid  out, 
and  directed  the  Board  of  Park  Commissioners  to  lay  out 
an  avenue,  to  be  called  the  Avenue  St.  Nicholas,  running  from 
the  intersection  of  Sixth  Avenue  with  110th  street  to  155th 
street.  The  same  act  directed  that  Manhattan  street  be  wi- 
dened to  the  width  of  100  feet  and  extended  to  meet  the 
Avenue  St.  Nicholas.  The  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and 
Assessment  were  appointed  on  the  7th  May,  1867,  and  their 
report  was  confirmed  on  the  6th  May,  I860. 

The  contract  for  grading  and  completing  all  that  section 
of  this  avenue  north  of  121th  street,  was  awarded  on  the  30th 
November,  1869,  to  J.  C.  Cumming,  Jr. 

The  section  between  what  is  known  as  Breakneck  hill  and 
155th  street  is  now  completed,  and  open  to  public  use. 

The  section  between  Breakneck  hill  and  124th  street,  is  now 
being  worked. 

The  work  on  that  portion  of  the  avenue  between  110th  street 
and  124th  street,  and  the  work  of  widening  and  extending 
Manhattan  street,  is  to  be  done  by  the  Department  of  Public 
Parks  by  days  labor.  This  work  has  actually  been  commenced, 
and  so  soon  as  the  Sixth  A  venue,  between  110th  street  and 
125th  street,  is  opened  to  the  public,  Harlem  lane  will  be 
closed,  and  a  large  force  of  hands  employed  on  the  work. 

This  avenue  is  destined  to  be  one  of  the  finest  on  the  West 
Side.  It  begins  at  the  main  north  exit  or  entrance  of  the 
Park,  follows  the  course  of  Harlem  lane,  crosses  the  Eighth 
Avenue  and  continues  on  to  the  north,  between  the  Eighth 
and  Tenth  Avenues,  over  the  high  ground  in  the  vicinity  of 
145th  street.    It  ascends  all  the  way  by  an  easy  grade,  and 


45 


will  be  the  most  direct  route  from  the  Park,  and  its  immediate 
vicinity,  to  the  north  end  of  the  Island. 

The  Circle. 

The  59th  street  circle  presents  quite  a  finished  appearance. 
The  raili  oad  tracks  turn  on  either  side  around  the  central  space, 
the  road  bed  is  fine  and  the  whole  character  of  the  work  is 
creditable. 

The  Boulevaed  or  Public  Driye. 

The  Boulevard  which  has  been  our  dream  for  so  long  a  time, 
may  now  be  called  a  "fait  accompli."  It  is  traversable  with- 
out interruption  from  59th  street  to  86th  street,  and  by  mak- 
ing one  or  two  detours  to  pass  short  sections  yet  unfinished, 
to  Manhattanville.  The  Department  confidently  expects  to 
have  this  avenue  completed,  and  opened  to  the  public  from 
59th  street  to  155th  street,  this  coming  autumn. 

The  North  End,  or  Fort  Washington  District. 

Pursuant  to  the  act  of  the  24th  April,  1865,  the  Board  of 
Commissioners  proceeded  to  locate  streets,  roads,  public 
squares  aud  places  within  that  section  of  the  city  north  of 
155th  street,  of  such  width,  extent,  direction  and  grade,  as  to 
them  seemed  most  condusive  to  public  good. 

The  map  of  the  North  End  as  published  by  the  Depart- 
ment, shows  how  thoroughly  they  perfoimed  this  work 

Toward  the  actual  doing  of  this  work  on  ihe  ground,  it  is 
not  expected  nor  required  that  much  should  have  been  done  ; 
.a  commencement  however  has  been  made.  On  the  18th,  the 
Commissioners  oi  Estimate  and  Assessment  were  appointed  on 
the  widening  and  straightening  of  Kingsbridge  road.  Their 
report  will  be  made  this  coming  summer,  aud  as  soon  as  the  re- 
port is  confirmed  the  Department  will  begin  the  work  requiied. 

The  work  of  grading  and  regulating  that  part  of  Tenth  Ave- 
nue between  L">5th  street  and  Fort  George  Hill,  title  to  which 
was  acquired  some  years  ago,  will  be  commenced  this  spring, 


46 


A  topographical  survey  has  been  prepared  of  High  Bridge 
Park,  in  view  of  undertaking  immediately  the  work  of  improve- 
ing  it. 

MORNINGSIDE  PARK. 

The  report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assess- 
ment appointed  on  this  park,  was  confirmed  on  the  28th  July, 
1870.  The  topographical  survey  of  the  ground  is  nearly  com- 
pleted, and  the  work  of  making  it  a  park  will  commence  this 
season. 

Riverside  Park. 

The  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assessment  appointed 
on  this  park  in  September,  1868,  filed  their  report  on  the  18th 
February,  1871,  and  so  soon  as  a  final  report  is  confirmed,  the 
Department  intend  to  proceed  with  the  work  required  to  ena- 
ble them  to  make  this  beautiful  Hudson  River  bank  a  park 
indeed. 

Westchester  County. 

So  soon  as  the  surveys  now  being  made  in  Westchester 
are  completed,  the  Department  will  proceed  to  devise  plans 
comprehending  such  changes  in  location,  course  and  grades 
of  the  streets,  avenues  and  roads,  now  laid  out  within  the  area 
specified  in  the  act  of  the  11th  May,  1869,  as  in  their  opinion 
will  best  benefit  the  property  affected,  also  to  determine,,  the 
location,  course,  grade,  &c,  of  such  streets,  roads,  public 
squares  and  places  as  in  their  opinion  can  there  be  laid  out 
with  like  benefit,  also  plans  for  the  proper  sewerage  of  the 
land,  for  a  supply  of  pure  water  therefor,  and  also  for  the 
improvement  of  Harlem  River  and  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek; 
and  also  a  plan  for  bridges  and  tunnels  across  and  under  said 
river  and  creek. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  what  has  already  been  accom- 
plished, what  is  now  under  way  and  to  some  extent  what  is 
proposed. 


47 


It  is  important  that  the  improvements  under  way  be  com- 
pleted, and  that  those  proposed  be  undertaken  without  delay ; 
especially  that  the  work  on  Riverside  Park  and  Morningside 
Park  be  commenced,  and  that  these  pieces  of  ground  made 
parks  in  fact. 

A  bill  is  now  before  the  Legislature  to  authorize  the  city  to 
issue  a  public  fund  or  stock,  having  at  least  thirty  years  to  run, 
to  enable  the  City  Comptroller  to  provide  sufficient  funds  for 
the  speedy  and  immediate  completion  of  these  works. 

Another  bill  is  also  pending  before  the  Legislature  to  em- 
power the  Commissioners  of  Public  Parks  to  expend  $1,000,000 
in  erecting  suitable  buildings  for  the  American  Museum  of 
Natural  History,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art  and  the 
Historical  Society. 

Resolutions  by  the  West  Side  Association,  requesting  that 
both  of  these  bills  be  passed  have  been  sent  to  the  Legislature. 

Department  of  Public  Works. 

This  Department,  as  now  organized,  has  cognizance  and 
control : 

First. — Of  all  structures  and  property  connected  with  the 
supply  and  distribution  of  Croton  Water. 

Secondly. — Of  the  collecting  of  the  revenues  arising  from  the 
sale  or  use  of  the  Croton  Water. 

Thirdly. — Of  the  opening,  altering,  regulating,  grading,  flag- 
ging, curbing  and  guttering  of  streets,  roads,  places  and  ave- 
nues. 

Fourthly. — Of  the  repairing  and  construction  of  public  roads. 
Fifthly. — Of  the  care  of  public  buildings. 
Sixthly. — Of  the  filling  up  of  sunken  lots. 
Seventhly. — Of  public  sewers  and  drainage. 


48 


Eighthly. — Of  street  vaults. 

Ninthly. — Of  paving,  repaying  and  repairing  streets,  and 
keeping  the  same  clean. 

Tenthly. — Of  digging  and  constructing  wells, 

The  above  work,  formerly  under  the  control  of  various 
Commissioners  and  Boards,  is  now  gathered  under  this  one 
Department.  This  is  a  decided  improvement  over  the  old 
system,  in  as  much  as  it  is  comprehensive  and  responsible. 
The  Commissioner  at  the  head  of  this  Department  has  evinced 
a  purpose  to  have  the  work  under  its  control  efficiently  per- 
formed, and  the  interests  of  which  it  has  cognizance  carefully 
guarded. 

The  work  under  the  control  of  this  Department  will  be  con- 
sidered as  performed: 

First. — By  the  Bureau  having  care  of  all  structures  and  prop- 
erty connected  with  the  supply  and  distribution  of  Croton 
Water. 

Secondly. — By  the  Bureau  having  in  charge  the  sewerage  and 
drainage. 

Thirdly. — By  the  Bureau  having  in  charge  the  grading,  flag- 
ging, curbing  and  guttering  of  streets  and  avenues. 

First.— Pursuant  to  the  act  of  the  27th  April,  1865,  all  that 
portion  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  south  of  92d  street  and  west 
of  Eighth  Avenue,  has  been  discontinued  for  Aqueduct  pur- 
poses, the  land  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sinking  Fund  and 
a  branch  constructed  through  92d  street  to  connect  the  re- 
maining portion  of  the  Aqueduct  with  the  Reservoir  in  Cen- 
tral Park. 

The  act  of  the  15th  April,  1870,  directed  that  all  that  portion 
of  the  Croton  Aqueduct,  between  93d  street  and  113th  street, 


49 


be  discontinued,  and  that  the  Department  of  Public  Works 
should  construct  and  lay  within  two  years  a  conduit  begin- 
ning at  113th  street,  through  Tenth  Avenue  to  93d  street, 
thence  through  93d  street  to  connect  with  that  part  of  the 
Aqueduct  near  Ninth  Avenue  which  connects  with  the  Reser- 
voir,  and  that  such  conduit  be  laid  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
said  avenue  and  street,  at  such  a  depth  as  not  to  interfere  with 
the  established  grades  thereof.  The  land  thus  abandoned  for 
Aqueduct  purposes  is  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  the  stock 
issued  to  meet  the  cost  of  the  reconstruction,  and  is  eventuallv 
to  be  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  Sinking  Fund. 

The  work  as  above  directed  is  being  done  under  the  im- 
mediate supervision  of  Mr.  E.  H.  Tracy,  Chief  Engineer  of 
the  Department.  He  hopes  to  complete  the  work  within  the 
two  years  fixed  by  the  act. 

By  removing  the  portion  of  the  Aqueduct  below  92d  street, 
and  changing  the  course  and  position  of  that  portion  between 
93d  street  and  113th  street  and  placing  it  beneath  the  surface 
of  the  street,  some  eighty  or  ninety  lots  will  be  redeemed,  an 
unsightly  structure  will  disappear  and  a  cause  of  great  damage 
to  property  be  removed. 

The  Department  is  now  engaged  in  making  arrangements 
and  laying  pipes  to  supply  the  high  region  of  the  West  Side 
and  Murray  Hill,  from  the  Keservoir  at  Carmansville.  This 
Reservoir  being  two  hundred  feet  above  tide  water,  is  suffi- 
ciently elevated  for  the  purpose,  and  will  be  enlarged  if  neces- 
sary to  meet  the  demand. 

Secondly. — The  act  of  the  12th  April,  1865,  as  amended  by 
act  of  the  13th  April,  1866,  directed  the  Croton  Aqueduct 
Board  to  devise  a  plan  of  sewerage  and  drainage  for  the  whole 
city,  to  lay  the  city  out  into  as  many  sewerage  districts  as  was 
required  for  the  purpose,  and  to  proceed  with  the  work  of 
c  mstructing  the  sewers  in  any  of  the  said  districts  in  accord- 
ance with  such  a  plan  as  they  should  devise.  Nothing  of  im- 
portance was  done  under  this  act  by  this  Board  on  the 
West  Side. 

From  the  incorporation  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  Board  into 
the  Department  of  Public  Works  dates  activity  in  this  qr al- 
ter. 


50 


Daring  last  summer,  Mr.  Stevenson  Towle,  the  Engineer  in 
charge  of  this  Bureau,  made  a  thorough  survey  of  this  section  • 
he  has  devised  the  plan  of  sewerage  and  drainage  for  a  large 
portion  of  it,  and  has  divided  it  into  the  sewerage  districts  re- 
quired. 

Iu  adjusting  this  plan  lie  has  endeavored  :  1st,  to  have  as 
few  outlets  as  possible,  and  2d,  so  lo  locate  the  main  sewers 
as  to  take  advantage  of,  and  properly  drain  the  natural  water 
courses ;  in  some  cases  the  sewers  are  to  be  sunk  to  the  depth 
of  twenty-four  feet  below  the  surface. 

The  whole  area  of  the  West  Side  is  to  be  drained  into  the 
Hudson  River,  through  six  outlets. 

Last  year  an  outlet  at  the  foot  of  66th  street,  and  the  main 
sowers  were  completed  to  drain  a  district  from  58th  street  to 
70th  street,  west  of  the  Eighth  Avenue. 

Certain  contracts  for  the  construction  of  sewers  are  to  be 
given  out  this  summer.  One  for  constructing  the  main  sewers 
to  drain  a  district  situated  between  79th  street  and  90th  street, 
west  of  the  Eighth  Avenue :  this  contract  will  provide  for  a 
main  sewer  intended  to  drain  all  the  low  ground  situated  be- 
tween 106th  street  and  115th  street,  west  of  the  Eighth  Avenue. 
So  soon  as  98th  street  is  legally  opened  from  the  Boulevard  to 
Ninth  Avenue,  a  main  sewer  will  be  constructed  to  drain  a 
district  situated  between  92d  street  and  106th  street,  west  of 
Eighth  Avenue. 

Thirdly. — Eighth  Avenue  has  at  last  received  a  grade  that 
will  probably  stick.  Three  contracts  have  been  awarded  for 
doing  the  work  from  59th  street  to  122d  street. 

First  section,  from  59th  street  to  77th  street,  to  J.  Slattery, 
$69,775.04,  time  allowed,  one  year. 

Second  section,  from  81st  street  to  100th  street,  to  J.  B. 
Devlin,  $166,105.64,  time  allowed,  three  years. 

Third  section,  from  100th  street  to  122d  street,  to  J.  F. 
Broderick,  $267,646.00,  time  allowed,  three  years. 

A  considerable  amount  of  grading  has  actually  been  done  on 
the  first  and  second  sections,  and  work  is  to  be  commenced 
immediately  on  the  third  section. 


51 


The  section  between  77th  street  and  81st  street,  is  to  be 
regulated  by  the  Department  of  Publio  Parks. 

Contracts  have  been  awarded  since  January,  1870,  for  the 
grading  and  regulating  of  the  following  avenues  and  streets  : — 

Ninth  Avenue,  from  86th  street  to  110th  street. 
Tenth  Avenue,  from  Manhattan  street  to  155th  street. 
59th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  Ninth  Avenue. 
60th  street,  from  Tenth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River. 
63d  street,  from  Ninth  Avenue  to  Tenth  Avenue. 
66th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Boulevard. 
66th  street,  from  the  Boulevard  to  Tenth  Avenue. 
68th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River. 
69th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Boulevard. 
69th  street,  from  the  Boulevard  to  the  Hudson  River. 
72d  street  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River. 
73d  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River. 
75th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  Tenth  Avenue. 
77th  street,  from  Ninth  Avenue  to  the  Boulevard. 
79th  street,  from  Ninth  Avenue  to  Tenth  Avenue. 
81st  street,  from  Ninth  Avenue  to  the  Boulevard. 
86th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Boulevard. 
87th  street,  from  the  Boulevard  to  New  Avenue. 
99th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  Eleventh  Avenue. 
115th  street,  from  Eighth  Avenue  to  the  Hudson  River. 
122d  street,  from  Mount  Morris  Square  to  Eighth  Avenue. 
126th  street,  from  Second  Avenue  to  Eighth  Avenue. 

This  paper  will  be  hereafter  continued  by  tables  showing  as 
to  the  West  Side  : 

First. — What  streets  and  avenues,  or  parts  thereof  are 
actually  regulated,  with  the  date  of  confirmation,  &c. 

Secondly. — What  streets  and  avenues,  or  parts  thereof  are 
under  contract,  with  the  date  of  the  contract,  &c. 

Thirdly. — What  streets  and  avenues,  or  parts  thereof  are 


legally  opened  (for  the  regulation  of  which  contracts  are  not 
awarded)  with  the  date  of  the  proceedings. 

Fourthly. — The  sewerage  districts,  the  location  of  the  main 
sewers  and  their  outlets. 

Fifthly. — The  natural  and  established  grades  of  all  the 
streets,  avenues  and  public  places. 


The  Association  then  adjourned. 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


The  Fifth  public  meeting  of  ihe  Association  will  be  held  at 
the  Harvard  Kooms,  Sixth  Avenue  corner  42d  street,  on  Wed- 
nesday Evening,  12th  April,  1871. 

The  following  subjects  will  be  presented  : 

The  commercial  importance  of  New  York. 

Appropriate  names  for  the  New  Avenues  and  Public  Places. 

The  present  condition  of  West  Side  Improvements. 

The  present  chances  for  Rapid  Transit. 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 

New-York,  1870  1871. 

Document  No.  5. 
PROCEEDINGS 

Or  THC 

FIFTH  PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held    on   the   l£th    April,  1871. 

ADDRESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  It.  MAKT1K, 
JAMES  F.  RUGGLES, 
H.  B.  BACON,  &c. 


J.  ADNAH  BACKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  IOil  IttlNTIilt, 
No.  4S  John  Street. 

1871, 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  R.  MARTIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES,  6  Wall  Street 

TREASURER, 

R.  H.  ARKENBURGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITHECK, 
OOUttTLANDT  PALMER. 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKttNBUROH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDBLL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAME3  MONTEITH, 
aOHWKLL  D.  HATCH, 


EX  ECUTIVE  COM  M ITTEE, 

ANDREW  OARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SAN  FORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  STEVENSON, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN, 
CYRIH  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON, 


MARSHALL  O.  ROB  HITS. 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVER  MORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT. 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY, 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER, 
BESJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


X  O  T  ICE. 


The  West  Side  Association  propose  to  continue  their  public 
meetings,  'luring  the  Season  of  1870-71,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing 
the  atterdim  of  the  owners  of  '  property  upon  the  importance  of  the 
speedy  completion  of  the,  public  improvements  on  the  West  Side  ; 
the  grading  of  Streets  and  Avenues,  and  the  completion  of  the 
Public  Paris  already  laid  out ;  and  upon  the  necessity  of  rapid 
transit :  and  oho  for  the  purpose  of  concentrating  public  opinion 
w  these  subjects  into  power,  and  giving  it  the  right  direction  to- 
ward  accomplishing  these  objects. 

All  owners  of  property ,  North  of  59th  Street,  and  West  and 
North  of  the  Central  Park,  are  regarded  as  members  of  the  As$o~ 
oiation.  They  are  requested  to  give  notice  of  their  names,  address- 
es ami  the  location  of  tlieir  property  to  the  officers  of  the  Assoseia- 
tion :  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  papers  of  the  Association, 
personal  notice  of  its  meetings,  and  of  other  matters  that  may  con- 
cern than. 


The  Meeting  on  the  12  th  of  April,  1871,  was  opened 
by  the  President,  who  said  : 

Gentlemen  : 

Since  our  last  meeting,  the  question  of  Rapid  Transit  has 
received  its  solution,  so  far  as  Legislative  action  for  this  win- 
ter can  solve  it.  Two  bills  were  passed  by  the  Legislature  ; 
the  first  for  a  Broadway  underground  road,  known  as  the 
Beach  transit,  and  the  second  known  as  the  Viaduct,  but  in 
fact,  vesting  absolute  power  over  the  whole  subject  in  a  pri- 
vate corporation.  The  first  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor,  and 
the  second  approved  by  him. 

So  we  stand  to-day  in  this  attitude  in  regard  to  this  subject, 
in  Mr.  Sweeny  and  his  associates,  who  may  be  elected  Di- 
rectors of  the  new  corporation,  is  vested  absolute  power  to 
give  us  or  withhold  from  us  a  railroad,  without  any  restriction 
upon  their  judgment  in  the  determination  of  route  and  plan. 
We  find  this  manifold  advantage,  we  have  no  more  need  to 
to  Albany.  Local  government  has  been  restored  in  a 
fashion.  The  powers  over  this  subject,  once  vested  in  the 
municipal  government,  were  awhile  ago  usurped  by  the  State 
Legislature.  They  have  restored  them  here  not  to  our  mu- 
nicipal government,  but  to  a  private  corporation  of  New- 
Yorkers.  After  five  years  of  discouragement  and  disappoint- 
ment, we  may  find  it  no  practical  disadvantage  that  we  have 
a  new  local  power  to  whom  to  present  our  arguments. 

I  desire  at  the  outset  to  recall  to  you  a  few  general  consid- 
erations showing  the  imperative  necessity  of  such  a  road. 

The  people  in  New-York,  above  40th  street,  represent  real 
estate  of  a  tax-valuation  of  $173,000,000,  out  of  a  total  valua- 
tion of  $742,000,000.  The  area  includes  the  vacant  land  on 
the  Island  :  within  a  few  years  past,  it  has  been  rapidly  pre- 


8 


pared  for  building  and  occupation  at  very  heavy  expense  in 
taxes  and  assessments,  so  that  its  inaccessibility  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  sole  or  principal  reason  why  it  is  not  now  filled 
with  population.  Since  1860,  the  population  of  Brooklyn  and 
near  New- Jersey  has  increased  at  a  rate  seven  times  faster 
than  New- York  :  this  is  due  to  the  great  increase  of  railroad 
facilities.  New-York  has  been  thus  depleted  of  population 
and  wealth.  A  competition  against  its  growth  has  arisen 
which  is  absorbing  rapidly  its  capital  and  enterprise,  and 
which  it  cannot  resist.  The  up-town  area  is  to-day  in  time 
20  miles  distant  from  the  City  Hall.  This  results  in  the  cheek- 
ing of  growth,  in  loss  and  inconvenience  to  population  and 
property — property  of  greater  value  than  Broadway  below 
1 4th  street — and  the  single  remedy  is  rapid  transit. 

An  important  question  now  in  New- York  municipal  admin- 
istration is  how  to  make  a  legitimate  and  sound  increase 
in  the  valuation  of  property  as  the  basis  of  taxation.  The 
result  of  rapid  transit  would  be  the  immediate  in crease  in  the 
value  of  real  estate  up  town  and  its  settlement  with  popula- 
tion. If  the  vacant  area  as  far  as  Manhattanville  were  built 
up  the  value  of  the  land,  as  such,  would  be  increased  three- 
fold, and  the  buildings  would  in  the  aggregate  be  worth  as 
much  as  the  land.  Building  is  a  process  which  turns  personal 
into  real  property.  There  is  no  measure  which  will  so  cer- 
tainly, so  rapidly,  double  the  valuation  of  real  property  in 
New-York  and  thus  solve  the  problem  of  a  large  amount  of 
tax,  raised  on  property  at  fair  valuations,  at  a  low  rate  per 
cent.  On  the  contrary,  without  rapid  transit,  the  injustice 
of  the  present  taxation  is  manifest.  Although  the  market  val- 
uation of  land  is  lower  than  in  1868,  the  tax  valuation  of  the 
up-town  area  has  increased  50  per  cent.  Land  will  not  rent 
for  enough  to  pay  the  taxes  on  it,  and  in  many  cases  vacant 
land,  abreast  of  the  Park,  is  valued  at  a  higher  proportion  on 
its  market  value,  than  the  conspicuous  pieces  of  property  on 
Broadway. 

In  the  third  place,  I  allude  to  the  financial  condition  of 
the  country,  in  reaction  from  the  high  prices  which  followed 
the  cessation  of  the  rebellion.  Mr.  Tilden  calls  it  the  "period 
of  the  shrinkage  of  valves."    In  our  national  finances,  we  have 


9 


a  great  debt,  an  approach  to  specie  payments,  with  an  admin- 
istration which  does  not  comprehend  the  question.  This 
shows  itself  in  the  sinking  of  values  of  property  at  New-York, 
and  it  is  a  time  when  measures  should  be  taken  to  promote 
the  growth  and  prosperity  of  the  metropolis,  to  repair  the 
neglect  of  the  municipal  administration,  which  has  signalize  1 
itself  by  aiding  in  the  construction  of  the  Brooklyn  bridge,  and 
in  reducing  the  ferriage  to  one  cent.  Great  commercial  enter- 
prises are  extending  not  northward  along  the  shores  of  the 
Island,  but  on  the  New  Jersey  side  of  the  Hudson. 

On  these  several  considerations,  when  we  found  that  the 
Broadway  Underground  Bill  had  passed  the  Legislature,  and 
was  before  the  Governor  for  his  approval,  we  took  hold  of 
it  as  a  practical  measure  for  the  solution  of  the  question,  and 
advocated  before  the  Governor  its  approval  in  the  interests  of 
the  people.  We  said  that  the  habit  of  each  man,  in  spending  one 
or  two  hours  each  day  in  forced  reflections  upon  the  necessity 
and  best  methods  of  rapid  transit,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
some  millions  of  years  of  solid  reflection  on  the  practical  parts 
of  the  question,  had  brought  the  people  at  large  to  the  convic- 
tion that  Broadway  was  the  best  route  ;  that  the  underground 
plan  was  adapted  to  Broadway,  and  that  it  was  adequate  and 
practicable;  and  that  the  private  interests,  or  rather  the  mis- 
taken views  of  Broadway  owners  as  to  their  private  interests 
should  not  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  public  good. 
The  Governor  gave  a  hearing  upon  the  subject,  to  those  in 
favor  of  and  against  the  bill,  and  then  vetoed  it.  The  argu- 
ments against  it  at  the  hearing,  were,  that  the  construction  of 
fche  road  would  endanger  the  safety  of  the  buildings  along 
Broadway  ;  that  the  Bill  contained  excessive  grants  of  power, 
and  lacked  necessaiy  safeguards;  and  the  opposition  ex- 
pressed to  it  on  the  part  of  the  owners.  The  absurdity  that 
the  buildings  along  Broadway  would  be  undermined,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  veto  message,  made  no  impression,  nor  did  the 
selfish  views  of  the  property  owners.  The  grounds  considered 
as  sufficient  for  the  veto  were  the  lack  of  safeguaids,  the 
excess  of  powers  given  to  the  Company,  and  the  engineering 
difficulties  and  interferences  with  the  sewerage  suggested  by 
Mr.  Tracy.    Of  the  report  of  Mr.  Tracy,  I  take  it  to  be  the 


10 


settled  public  opinion  that  if  it  had  been  made  public  every 
one  of  his  positions  would  have  been  controverted,  proved  out 
and  reasoned  down  under  the  written  evidence  of  a  score  of 
the  best  engineers  and  architects  in  the  city.  As  to  the 
powers  given  to  the  Company  and  the  alleged  want  of  safe- 
guards for  the  public  interests,  thej'  were  based  on  a  hyper- 
criticism  in  itself  unreasonable,  for  broad  powers  must  be 
given  to  such  a  Company,  and  their  abuse  must  be  restrained 
by  a  watchful  public  opinion,  and  the  action  of  the  Courts. 
In  this  respect,  the  Governor  did  not  delay  a  week  in  taking 
a  broader  and  more  popular  position.  He  has  signed  the 
Bill  called  the  Viaduct.  It  would  be  in  vain  to  look  through 
the  sections  of  that  bill  for  restrictions  on  absolute  power, 
equally  vain  to  look  for  any  safeguard  for  public  or  private 
property.  That  Bill  gives  absolute  and  exclusive  power 
to  construct  a  railroad,  underground  iurnel  or  arcade,  ele- 
vated by  iron  or  masonry  along,  under,  over  or  across  any 
street,  public  place,  avenue  or  through  the  blocks,  in  any  part 
of  the  city.  The  only  restriction  is  against  surface  roads. 
There  could  not  be  a  more  frank  recognition  of  the  necessity 
of  granting  liberal  powers  to  the  corporation  engaged  in  such 
a  work.  The  Viaduct  Company  do  not  lack  a  syllable  of 
power  to  construct  the  Broadway  underground  road,  arcade 
or  tunnel. 

So  the  people  have  all  that  we  asked  for  when  we  advocated 
the  Broadway  underground,  and  more.  The  grantee  is  a  dif- 
ferent corporation,  but  its  powers  are  unrestricted  ;  and  the 
Broadway  owner  may  look  in  vain  for  a  single  safeguard,  not 
even  a  poor  $200,000  indemnity  bond.  I  suppose  that  if  the 
Governor  had  put  it  to  us  in  this  simple  light  that  he  was 
going  to  give  us  more  than  we  asked  for,  and  in  a  better  form, 
it  would  have  been  hard  for  us  to  have  found  a  reason  against 
it. 

So  now  we  stand  in  this  attitude  to  this  vital  question. 
We  want  a  road,  and  we  have  here  in  New- York  the  Company 
with  power  to  give  it  to  us,  power  to  make  any  or  all  of  the 
different  roads  on  any  route,  except  surface  roads,  that  have 
ever  been  presented  to  the  public  attention,  and  we  have  three 
things  to  say.    First,  that  we  accept  them  as  masters  of  the 


11 


situation,  and  want  rapid  transit  now,  that  we  will  hold  them 
io  their  duty,  an  I  the  judicious  and  prompt  prosecution  of 
their  work.  Second,  that  in  the  selection  of  route  and  plan, 
they  must  act  on  broad  and  comprehensive  ideas,  including  all 
the  necessary  conditions  of  the  problem.  Third,  that  they  can- 
not escape  the  fact  that  Broadway  is  the  best  route. 

I  want  to  illustrate  this  second  point,  by  showing  you  how 
City  work  of  this  sort  has  been  done  on  incomplete  and  nar- 
row minded  ideas,  resulting  in  great  loss  to  the  city  and  to 
property,  as  examples  for  these  gentlemen  now  to  avoid. 

The  first  is  the  work  of  the  Commissioners  under  the  act  of 
1807  in  laying  out  the  upper  part  of  the  Island,  that  covered 
by  the  numbered  streets  and  avenues.  If  they  had  done  the 
work  in  the  dark,  or  without  surveying  it,  or  even  seeing  it, 
they  could  not  more  completely  have  disregarded  fundamental 
conditions.  Without  regard  to  surface  or  outline  they  laid  a 
gridiron  on  it  and  the  work  was  done.  There  are  three  prin- 
cipal and  necessary  conditions  which  they  totally  overlooked  ; 
the  first  was  the  shore  line,  in  some  places  low  banks  and  shal- 
low water,  in  others  high  hillsides  and  deep  water;  they  es- 
tablished grades  for  the  reduction  of  these  high  river  banks, 
shovelling  them  all  down  to  fill  out  in  the  river,  which  were  to- 
tally destructive  of  all  the  value  of  property.  These  have  been 
remedied  by  laying  out  the  Riverside  and  Morningside  Parks, 
.and  other  West  Side  improvements,  including  a  new  shore  line, 
with  which  and  the  reasons  for  it  you  are  all  familiar,  and  the 
same  work  is  yet  to  be  done  on  the  East  Side.  The  second  was 
t  he  connection  of  the  new  avenues  they  laid  out,  with  main  thor- 
oughfares in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  ;  no  such  connection 
was  made  except  in  the  case  of  the  Third,  Fourth,  and  Ninth 
Avenues.  The  third  was  a  variation  from  the  parallel  lined 
iind  right  angled  uniformity  of  plan,  to  adopt  it  to  inequality 
of  surfaces,  and  to  create  a  variety  that  would  increase  the 
value  and  beauty  of  special  locations.  Any  one  can  see  now 
the  value  of  the  intersection  of  Broadway  at  34th  street  and 
Sixth  Avenue,  44th  street  a  id  Seventh  Avenue,  23rd  street 
and  Fifth  Aveuue,  for  concentration  of  business,  and  as  sites 
for  buildings  where  they  can  be  seen.  These  were  left  to  us 
by  the  chance  that  Broadway  was  in  too  great  use  as  a  country 


12 


road  to  be  interfered  with.  Suppose  that  the  gridiron  plan 
bad  net  been  adopted,  but  that  for  instance  there  had  been 
open  spaces  along  Fifth  Avenue,  like  Union  Square  on  u  small 
scale,  with  diagonal  diverging  avenues,  to  the  east  and  to  the 
west;  and  that  the  rigid  lines  of  Fifth  Avenue  on  Murray  Hill, 
at  50th  street,  and  other  such  places  had  been  broken.  What  I 
mean  is  that  there  was  room  for  such  variations  from  strict 
uniformity,  and  that  if  they  had  been  provided  for  they  would 
have  been  sites  of  great  concentration  of  value.  This  plan  of 
the  Commissioners  has  been  changed  in  some  respects,  to 
bring  it  to  some  conformity  with  the  needs  of  a  great  city. 
The  West  Side  has  been  laid  out  anew  at  a  period  too  late  to 
make  as  many  changes  as  would  have  been  useful.  The  East 
Side  is  to  bo  laid  out,  Madison  and  Lexington  Avenues  have 
been  laid  out  and  extended,  the  Boulevard  and  Parks  ha^e 
been  laid  out,  and  Broadway  has  been  widened  and  straight- 
ened repeatedly.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  these  changes  have 
cost  more  than  the  total  value  of  the  whole  area  at  the  time  it 
was  laid  out,  and  that  many  of  these  improvements  could  have- 
been  anticipated,  if  there  had  been  any  study  of  the  conditions 
of  the  subject,  or  foresight,  at  the  time,  without  any  expense. 

A  second  illustration  is  the  Corporation  treatment  of  ihe 
lower  section  of  the  city  down  to  the  present  day.  It  was  laid 
out  in  the  colonial  times,  without  reference  to  the  location  of 
a  great  population  on  the  upper  part  of  the  Island,  and  han 
insufficient  longitudinal  thoroughfares  to  accommodate  that 
population ;  a  great  many  streets  have  been  widened,  but 
wholly  without  a  comprehensive  idea.  The  conditions  are* 
shnple  and  obvious.  The  City  Hall  Park  is  the  great  down 
town  centre,  immense  masses  of  population  approach  the  city 
by  ferry  and  steamboats,  below  Chambers  street,  principally 
at  Courtland  street  and  Barclay  street,  the  Battery  and  at 
Fulton  street  on  the  East  River.  Main  thoroughfares  ought  to 
be  opened  on  these  natural  Hues  of  travel  to  this  down-town 
centre.  Between  down-town  and  up-town  there  are  streams 
of  travel  from  the  business  to  the  residence  sections ;  these  are 
distinct.  There  is  a  central  one,  along  the  Fifth  Avenue,, 
another  along  Second  and  Third  Avenues,  another  along 
the  Eighth  A  venue.    Each  of  these  side  sections,  should  have, 


13 


a  main  thoroughfare  down-town ;  the  Sixth,  Seventh,  and 
Eighth  Avenues,  should  be  run  together,  and  brought  down  to 
West  Broadway  at  Canal  street;  and  the  Second  and  Third 
Avenues  to  Centre  street  or  the  New  Bowery,  Main  thor- 
oughfares would  then  coincide  with  great  natural  present  and 
future  streams  of  travel.  Money  enough  has  been  spent  in 
opening  and  widening  streets  to  have  made  these  necessary 
thoroughfares,  but  not  one  step  has  yet  been  taken  toward  a 
comprehensive  result.  You  have  fragments  of  streets  widened, 
a  few  that  might  be  made  parts  of  a  comprehensive  and  eco- 
nomic plan,  but  many  that  are  utterly  useless;  streets  that 
lead  nowhere,  and  are  not  connected  at  their  ends  with  main 
thoroughfares. 

Now  these  are  obvious  illustrations  of  attempting  city  im- 
provements upon  an  inadequate  plan,  and  iu  determining  upon 
the  lines  of  rapid  transit,  unless  comprehensive  ideas  are  taken 
of  the  subject,  the  same  mistakes  will  be  made  again,  especially 
if  the  lines  are  settled  upon  by  local  or  individual  property 
interests  and  not  on  general  principles.  Perhaps  the  first 
point  will  be  to  make  men  believe  that  general  principles  have 
anything  to  do  with  it. 

There  is  an  outline  of  a  route  given  in  the  Viaduct  Bill.  It 
may  be  entirely  gratuitous  to  suppose  that  any  body  ever  in- 
tends to  adopt  that  line,  rather  than  any  other.  That  shad- 
owed route  has  served  to  name  and  to  pass  the  Bill,  and  may 
have  done  service  enough  to  be  honorably  discharged,  but  it 
furnishes  an  illustration  upon  which  to  set  forth  some  of  the 
considerations  which  must  determine  the  line  of  rapid  transit. 

In  the  first  place,  Mr.  Stewart's  store  at  Chambers  street 
is  not  the  whole  of  down-town,  and  a  starting  point  at  or  near 
Chambers  street  does  not  accommodate  the  whole  cf  the  bu- 
siness section  of  the  city.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  a  com- 
prehensive system,  that  the  clown- to wn  starting  point  should 
be  connected  with  the  streams  of  travel,  which  as  I  have  indi- 
cated approach  the  lower  part  of  the  city  at  the  steamboat 
landings  and  ferries  below  Chambers  street.  The  proposed 
viaduct  route  up-town  toward  Mr.  Stewart's  Metropolitan  Ho- 
tel, and  curving  round  that  westward  across  Broadway,  and 
near  Bleecker  street  to  Sixth  Avenue,  right  through  his  ex  ten- 


!  [ 


sive  possessions  on  Bleecker  street  and  its  vicinity,  might 
compensate  him  for  the  disadvantages  he  would  suffer  fiom 
having  the  line  so  far  off  from  Broadway,  but  the  other  Broad- 
way owners  would  not  be  in  so  good  a  position  to  reap  a  sim- 
ilar compensation.  The  line  as  proposed  violates  the  neces- 
sary conditions  of  the  best  line  of  steam  transit.  I  will  not 
hesitate  to  put  upon  record,  what  I  believe  to  be  the  convic- 
tions of  the  people  on  this  question,  that  Broadway,  or  at 
least  the  nearest  possible  line  to  it,  is  the  best  route  for  the 
West  Side,  both  for  the  public,  and  for  the  interests  of  the 
Broadway  property  owneis  themselves.  Broadway  belongs 
to  the  people  ;  the  whole  people,  present  and  fu'ure.  It  is  the 
natural  main  thoroughfare;  the  people  have  used  it  and  will 
continue  to  use  it.  It  is  this  use  which  has  given  it  so  great 
value,  four  or  five  fold  greater  than  any  parallel  street.  If 
this  use  were  discontinued,  its  great  va'ue  would  recede  at 
once.  It  is  this  use  which  has  led  to  the  erection  of  great 
stores  on  Broadway,  and  not  on  the  side  streets.  It  is  tine 
that  these  stores  react  and  attract  the  people,  but  the  tide 
of  public  travel  preceded  them;  and  to-day,  if  this  travel,  this 
public  use  were  diverted,  Broadway  values  would  recede  :  if  it 
could  be  increased  ten-fold,  values  would  be  enhanced  ;  this  is 
incontrovertible,  and  the  travel  is  the  variable  element.  It 
follows  from  this,  that  the  public  have  the  right  to  have  the 
facilities  for  travel  on  Broadway  enlarged,  so  as  to  accommo- 
date to  the  greatest  extent  the  present  travel,  and  the  greatly 
increased  travel,  which  as  the  city  grows  will  pour  into  Broad- 
way ;  and  it  also  follows  that  any  measures  which  will  concen- 
trate travel  now  or  in  the  future  in  Broadway  will  enhance 
the  Broadway  trade,  and  the  value  of  Broadway  property.  This 
right  of  the  public  to  increase  of  the  facilities  of  travel  on 
Broadway  is  based  not  only  on  the  right  to  have  rapid  transit 
on  some  line,  but  as  in  all  railroad  cases,  to  have  it  on  that 
line  which  best  accommodates  the  travel,  on  the  line  of  a 
natural  thoroughfare;  and  it  is  subject  to  this  limitation  that 
it  shall  not,  on  a  just  balancing  of  the  case,  injure  the  property 
owners  on  the  line. 

The  concentration  of  travel  on  Broadway  will  be  a  benefit 
to  the  owners  of  property  on  Broadway,  and  I  desire  to  put 


15 


this  part  of  my  argument  in  contrast  with  what  I  term  the  ab- 
surdity that  Broadway  is  to  be  benefited  by  keeping  back  the 
up-town  growth,  by  refusing  to  adapt  it  to  the  increase  of  travel 
which  is  in  the  future  to  pour  into  it,  and  by  diverting  this 
travel  out  of  Broadway.  A  great  pioportion  of  the  present 
high  value  on  Broadway  depends  orb  the  fact  that,  along  its 
Jine  up-town,  are  settled  the  residences  of  those  classes  of  the 
population  who  spend  the  most  money.  They  are  not  set- 
tling along  Eighth  and  Ninth  Avenues,  nor  along  Second  and 
Third  Avenues,  but  centrally  along  Fifth  Avenue  and  Broad- 
way. When  people  spend  money  along  Broadway,  retail 
stores  push  up-town  and  thrive,  rents  increase,  and  the  value 
of  property  is  affected.  If  one  million  more  of  this  class  of 
population,  were  led  to  settle  along  the  Fifth  Avenue  side  of 
the  Central  Park,  and  along  the  Boulevard  between  the  Cen- 
tral and  the  Riverside  Parks,  and  there  is  room  there  for  them, 
this  class  of  Broadway  travel  would  increase  in  proportion, 
and  Broadway  owners  and  business  would  reap  the  benefits. 
These  up-town  regions,  from  natural  advantages  and  the  public 
parks  there,  are  more  attractive  now  to  such  population  than 
any  suburb  of  the  city  or  any  other  city,  and  with  Rapid 
Transit  once  accomplished,  they  will  settle  there. 

Now  assuming  Rapid  Transit  accomplished  on  some  line, 
this  settlement  up-town  made,  and  this  great  stream  of  daily 
money  spending  travel  established,  does  it  need  any  expansion 
of  the  argument  to  show  that  it  is  better  for  Broadway  to 
have  it  all  convenintly  accommodated  there,  and  worse  for 
Broadway  to  have  it  all  diverted  and  habituated  to  go  elsewhere. 
1 4  it  not  manifestly  the  interest  of  the  Broadway  owner  to  secure 
this  settlement  of  the  regions  around  the  Central  Park  with 
the  wealthiest  population,  at  the  earliest  moment,  and  then  to 
concentrate  by  all  possible  means  the  travel  of  this  population 
on  Broadway. 

I  pass  on  therefore  to  consider  whether  the  underground 
plan  is  adequate  and  practicable,  for  the  Viaduct  Company 
have  full  power  to  construct  a  Broadway  undergi  ound  road, 
and  whether  it  is  really  injurious  to  the  Broadway  owner. 

On  the  first  branch  of  the  question,  since  it  is  the  only  plan 
adapted  to  Broadway,  it  deserves  the  most  favorable  consid- 


16 


eration  on  the  question  of  its  practicability.  As  this  is  an  en- 
gineering question,  open  as  all  great  engineering  successes 
have  been  from  the  time  of  the  first  steamboat,  to  plausible 
objections,  I  leave  it  with  this  comment,  that  the  thoroughness 
of  the  investigations  for  the  past  five  years  has  brought  the 
public  to  a  general  conviction  of  its  adequacy  and  practicability. 
I  am  confident  that  it  will  appear  that  in  economy  of  structure 
it  will  not  be  surpassed  by  any  plan  of  equal  capacity  and 
adapted  to  steam  power;  and  I  add  that  when  you  unite  to 
this,  that  it  is  on  the  best  route,  the  main  thoroughfare  of 
a  great  city,  you  have  the  requisite  to  more  capital  to  its  sup- 
port, the  considerations  on  which  capital  embarks  in  great  en- 
terprises. 

You  see  that  I  regard  the  underground  in  Broadway  just 
as  much  to  be  argued  for  as  ever,  for  the  question  of  route 
and  plan  is  now  to  be  decided  by  men  who  have  to  grapple 
with  the  question,  and  who  cannot  afford  to  overlook  argu- 
ments, or  to  make  a  mistake.  Talleyrand  said  a  blunder  was 
worse  than  a  crime.  A  crime  however  enormous,  may  be  for- 
given, repented  of  suddenly  and  freely  forgiven  and  atoned 
for,  but  for  a  mistake  of  judgment,  a  blunder  in  the  decision  of  a 
great  practical  question,  the  disastrous  consequences  upon 
the  interests  of  the  people  they  will  have  to  suffer,  and  the 
authors  of  the  mistake  cannot  escape  the  public  condemnation. 
We  do  not  take  any  attitude  of  opposition  to  the  Viaduct  Bill. 
I  have  never  done  so,  we  did  not  at  Albany,  and  the  position  we 
were  in  there  on  this  question  was  a  remarkable  confirmation 
of  the  correctness  of  our  judgment.  The  advocates  of  the 
Br  >adway  underground  did  not  oppose  the  Viaduct,  they  had 
no  fear  of  any  rivalry,  Broadway  was  so  unquestionably  the 
best  route.  But  the  advocates  of  the  Viaduct  opposed  the 
underground,  for  no  other  route  could  stand  the  competition 
of  a  route  on  Broadway.  The  fact  that  the  two  came  together 
before  the  Governor  gave  emphasis  to  the  expression  of  the 
people  in  favor  of  the  underground ;  with  no  one  to  ask  for  the 
Viaduct.  It  demonstrated  this  leading  fact  in  the  whole  rase, 
that  Broadway  is  so  absolutely  the  best  route,  and  the  under- 
ground plan  so  thoroughly  practicable,  that  its  advocates  did 
not  fear  the  rivalry  of  any  other  plan  or  route  that  can  be  de- 


17 


vised,  that  it  is  so  thoroughly  and  absolutely  the  best,  that 
the  corporation  to  be  vested  with  unrestricted  power  to  con- 
struct any  and  every  route  and  plan,  found  it  necessary  first 
to  kill  off  the  Broadway  underground  in  any  hands  other 
than  their  own,  for  while  that  is  possible  no  other  is  worth  un- 
dertaking. This  vindicated  every  position  I  had  taken  in  the 
argument. 

We  have  a  right  therefore  to  ask  for  a  full  and  fair  consid- 
eration from  the  new  corporation  of  the  whole  subject  of  the 
route  and  plan  of  rapid  transit,  and  I  propose  to  give  you  an 
illustration  which,  in  reference  to  upper  Broadway,  will  estab- 
lish the  position  that  the  interests  of  Broadway  owners  re- 
quire the  road  to  be  built  on,  and  not  away  from  Broadway. 

I  can  remember  when  the  five  lots  on  the  southeast  coiner 
of  Broadway  and  34th  street  were  sold,  within  twenty  years, 
for  $12,000/  They  are  now  worth  $400,000.  What  is  the 
cause  of  this  increase,  and  why  is  that  corner  worth  more  than 
the  corner  of  34th  street  and  the  Second  or  Third,  or  Seventh 
or  Eighth  or  Ninth  Avenues.  It  is  because  Broadway  is  the 
main  thoroughfare  of  the  best  travel,  and  because  wealthy  peo- 
ple are  settling  up-town  on  the  line  of  Broadway,  and  travel 
up  and  down  past  that  comer.  Now  if  there  were  500,000 
wealthy  people  settled  on  the  West  Side,  along  Broadway  and 
the  Boulevard,  as  with  rapid  transit  in  a  few  years  there  will 
be,  and  Broadway  continued  to  be  their  main  thoroughfare,  its 
value  would  continue  to  be  increased  by  the  operation  of  the 
same  causes  which  heretofore  have  made  it  so  high  ;  but  sup- 
pose these  half  million  could  be  induced  to  make  the  Seventh 
Avenue  their  thoroughfare,  its  value  would  be  increased  at 
the  expense  of  Broadway  value.  Suppose  this  half  million 
were  settled  on  the  West  Side  to-day,  and  were  in  the  use  of 
Broadway  as  their  natural  thoroughfare,  would  not  the  Broad- 
way owner  fight  to  the  extreme  any  project  that  looked  like 
diverting  their  travel  away  to  the  Seventh  Avenue  ;  the  merits 
of  the  question  would  be  clear  then.  It  is  precisely  the  ques- 
tion before  the  public  now  :  whether  the  great  line  of  travel 
for  the  million  of  future  West  Side  people  shall  be  fixed  on  or 
off  Broadway.  With  a  principal  station  at  34th  street,  that 
corner  would  be  as  great  a  centre  as  the  Astor  House  now  is. 


18 


If  measures  are  adopted  now  that  will  turn  this  travel  away, 
Broadway  property  is  necessarily  injured  in  its  future  acces- 
sions of  value.  This  proves  what  I  have  so  often  said,  that 
the  question  of  route  is  the  controlling  one  ;  if  that  be  settled, 
then  the  question  of  plan  must  be  made  to  conform  to  it,  a  plan 
must  be  adopted  which  is  practicable  and  most  free  from  ob- 
jections. This  question  of  rapid  transit  is  not  what  many  people 
think  it  to  be,  a  transit  from  two  terminal  points,  but  a  method 
to  enable  the  people  along  the  central  portion  of  the  Island  to 
reach  any  point  on  the  line  of  transit  at  pleasure.  It  will  be- 
come a  great  thoroughfare,  and  necessarily  will  either  build  up 
Broadway  to  high  values  beyond  human  calculation,  or  build 
up  some  Avenue  at  its  expense. 

In  our  City  Government  we  are  fast  drifting  in:o  absolute 
power,  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men.  They  are  able  men, 
and  they  have  need  to  be.  With  all  the  laws  which  have 
been  framed  in  regard  to  the  public  works,  and  the  pas- 
sage of  the  two  per  cent,  tax  bill,  there  will  be  but  little  ad- 
ministrative power  left  outside  of  them.  The  worst  possible 
position  we  can  be  in  is  to  deceive  ourselves  as  to  the  effect 
of  these  laws ;  that  is,  not  to  see  that  this  railroad  bill  is  all  that 
I  have  described  it ;  absolute,  exclusive,  unrestricted  power, 
over  the  whole  subject  of  rapid  transit,  in  all  its  aspects  of 
route,  plan  and  capital ;  not  to  see  that  the  two  per  cent,  tax 
Bill  gives  to  the  officers  named  in  it,  absolute  power  to  dis- 
burse the  moneys  raised  by  taxation,  with  an  apparent  tempo- 
rary restriction  to  two  per  cent,  on  a  valuation  fixed  for  two 
years,  and  after  that,  without  restriction  as  to  valuation  or 
rate.  The  restriction  is  not  on  the  money  to  be  spent  in  1871 
and  1872,  but  on  the  money  to  be  raised  by  tax  in  those  two 
particular  years,  which  may  have  no  relation  to  the  money 
spent  in  those  years,  and  which  may  enter  on  the  third  year, 
with  a  great  deficiency.  I  think  it  better  to  look  at  this  abso- 
lute power  face  to  face.  It  enables  us  to  have  a  vigorous  gov- 
ernment, and  a  local  government ;  there  may  be  advantages  in 
these  points.  Once,  we  had  a  local  self-government  through 
officers  elected  by  the  people  ;  then  came  in  upon  the  field 
Legislative  power  from  Albany  which  appointed  these  officers, 
and  took  the  right  of  electing  them  from  the  people.  Now 


19 


they  are  restoring  local  government  with  unrestricted  powers  to 
tli e- hands  of  these  officers  appointed  at  Albany  by  legislative 
enactment,  and  no  longer  elected  by  the  people ;  so  that  the 
control  left  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  over  their  local  officers 
at  the  ballot  box,  is  of  the  most  trivial  and  unimportant 
description.  What  power  have  we  left?  we  have  the  power  to 
organize  public  opinion  ;  matured  and  well  digested  public 
judgment,  concentrated  on  special  subjects.  It  is  what  I  ask 
you  to  exercise  in  this  Association.  We  have  as  citizens, 
property  owners  and  tax  payers,  a  special  interest  in  certain 
branches  of  city  administration,  in  taxation,  in  the  progress 
of  local  improvements,  in  rapid  transit.  On  these  topics  we 
have  settled  convictions  ;  the  result  of  patient  reflection  and 
of  long  experience  I  think  we  will  be  able  to  present  our 
matters  on  broad  grounds  of  the  public  good,  and  defend 
our  positions  by  reasonable  arguments.  We  aim  at  practical 
results,  and  are  in  no  wise  disposed  to  be  arbitrary  as  to  par- 
ticular methods  of  bringing  them  about,  or  to  fix  our  opinions 
upon  particular  schemes ;  and  we  are  therefore  reasonable  in 
our  demands  and  in  our  criticism  upon  public  measures.  I  am 
confident  that  we  shall  find  the  public  officers  in  whom  these 
great  powers  of  administration  are  vested  reasonable  toward 
us,  and  that  we  are  in  a  fairer  way  than  ever  we  have  been  be- 
fore to  have  these  important  measures  carried  into  execution 
promptly.  And  it  is  time  ;  for  it  would  be  an  intolerable  bur- 
den to  carry  so  muck  vacant  property,  without  rental  value, 
under  so  heavy  a  load  of  taxes  and  assessments,  if  the  im- 
provements are  not  hurried  forward  and  our  property  made 
accessible  by  rapid  transit. 

If  you  look  abroad  throughout  the  country  for  the  combina- 
tions which  are  the  sources  of  the  greatest  wealth,  the  most 
pervading  financial  influence  and  of  political  power,  you  will 
find  them  to  be  the  comprehensive  railroad  monopolies.  As 
a  field  for  such  enterprise  the  fifteen  miles  length  of  this  Is- 
land with  its  future  millions  of  population  and  its  great  com- 
merce is  better  than  any  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  outside  terri- 
tory, better  in  every  aspect.  The  men  to  whom  such  power  is 
given  by  this  Viaduct  bill  owe  a  duty  to  the  public  commen- 
surate with  the  powers  the  public  has  given  to  them,  and  it  is. 
our  interest  to  see  that  this  duty  be  faithfully  performed. 


20 


Upon  the  subject  of  Rapid  Transit,  Mr.  James  F.  Rugglks 
then  spoke  as  follows  : 

3L\  President  and  Gentlemen  : 

The  subject  of  rapid  transit  has  engaged  the  earnest  atten- 
tio  1  of  t'10  Wist  Si  la  Association  forseveral  meetings.  It 
has  been  a  matter  of  some  doubt  as  to  how  far  the  consideration 
and  advocacy  of  particular  routes  and  plans  of  construction  of 
railroads,  belonged  to  or  was  within  the  province  of  this  Asso- 
ciation, or  as  to  the  expediency  of  in  any  way,  directly,  or  in- 
directly, committing  this  Association  to  any  particular  plan ; 
but  the  interest  and  importance  of  the  subject  has  been  such 
as  to  call  forth  man}7  statements  of  much  value,  from  various 
members  who  have  given  the  subject  much  and  earnest  con- 
sideration. The  advocates  of  underground  railways  have 
given  to  that  branch  of  the  subject  the  fullest  exposition,  and 
in  a  series  of  addresses  and  publications,  have  apparently  set 
forth  all  the  advantages  and  merits  of  underground  roads, 
with  calculations  of  costs  of  construction  and  damage,  and 
in  vigorous  arguments  advocated  the  benefits  and  superiority 
of  underground  roads,  and  in  some  instances  to  set  forth  and  to 
exhibit  in  somewhat  glowing  colors,  the  alleged  imperfections 
of  all  other  plans  of  rapid  transit,  and  to  criticise  the  various 
routes  suggested,  and  the  several  other  plans  of  construction 
proposed. 

The  Underground  Roads  have  received  full  and  fair  atten- 
tion, and  the  subject  has  received  as  full  ventilation  both  here 
:and  elsewhere  as  its  friends  could  desire. 

It  seems,  therefore,  both  just  and  expedient  that  the  subject 
•of  Elevated  railways  should  receive  equally  fair  attention  and 
•consideration,  to  afford  as  full  information  as  is  possible  at  this 
time  to  this  Association,  and  also  to  correct  such  errors  as  may 
,have  been  produced  by  thoughtless  or  baseless  statements,  and 
•.thus  give  some  opportunity  for  unprejudiced  judgment.  It 
will  be  impossible  at  this  time  to  enter  into  any  detailed  ex- 
position of  the  subject  of  elevated  or  viaduct  railways. 

The  Viaduct  Railway,  for  which  a  charter  has  been  granted 
at  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  provides  for  the  following 
iroute  and  construction : 


•21 


Starting  from  near  the  City  Hall,  and  extending,  northerly, 
through  the  blocks  between  Broadway  and  the  Bowery,  to 
the  vicinity  of  Bleecker  street,  and  thence  diverging,  with 
one  line,  towards  the  North  River,  and  passing  up  the  west- 
erly side  of  the  city  to  Kirigsbridge,  and  the  other  diverg- 
ing to  the  eastward,  and  crossing  the  Bowery,  and  passing 
to  Harlem  through  the  blocks  between  the  Third  Avenue  and 
the  East  River.  The  road  to  be  constructed  on  a  viaduct  of 
stone,  brick  and  iron,  at  sufficient  height  to  properly  cross  all 
streets  and  avenues  without  interruption  to  their  usual  use, 
and  without  interference  with  sewers,  gas,  or  water  pipes, 
vaults,  etc.,  and  without  injury  to  property  not  actually  requir- 
ed for  the  construction  and  use  of  the  railway.  The  railway 
to  be  constructed  with  four  tracks  ;  two  to  be  used  for  travel 
between  stations  about  one-half  a  of  mile  apart,  and  two  for 
travel  between  stations  about  one  mile  or  more  distant  from 
each  other.  Five-sixths  of  all  the  real  estate  owned  and  occu- 
pied would  be  remunerative.  The  necessity  of  putting  the 
supporting  walls  and  foundations  at  such  depth  below  the 
streets  as  to  protect  them  from  injury  when  adjoining  buildings 
might  be  erected,  would  afford  good  cellarage  and  basements 
through  all  the  blocks;  and  the  necessity  of  building  the 
railway  at  such  height  above  the  streets  as  to  afford  ample 
space  for  all  proper  use  of  them,  would  allow  of  extensive 
and  commodious  first  floors  being  constructed  under  the  rail- 
way ;  and  from  the  rental  of  such  cellarage,  basements,  and 
first  floors,  a  large  revenue  would  be  obtained,  sufficient  to 
pay  interest  on  the  cost  of  the  land  required,  as  soon  as  the 
railway  was  completed,  and  much  greater  in  future  years. 
?  i  Further  description  of  the  route  and  construction  at  this  time 
is  unnecessary,  and  it  will  be  sufficient  to  briefly  point  out  some 
of  the  errors  which  may  have  arisen  in  relation  to  the  subject. 
And  first,  as  to  the  route  in  reference  to  Broadway  : 
I  am  informed  that  the  route  of  the  proposed  railway  has 
been  made  in  special  reference  to  as  great  proximity  to 
the  line  of  Broadway  from  Chambers  street  to  Fifty-eighth 
street,  and  to  the  Boulevard  (which  is  the  continuation  of 
Broadway)  from  Fifty-eighth  street  to  the  end  of  the  Island, 
as  is  compatible  with  the  most  central  route,  with  the  cost 


22 


of  property  taken  and  with  the  best  and  most  available  grades, 
and  that  the  fullest  consideration  has  been  given  to  the  advan- 
tages of  such  proximity  in  affording  easy  and  convenient  access 
to  the  travel  now  on  Broadway,  without  the  great  expense  and 
probable  inconvenience  and  injury  resulting  from  the  establish- 
ment of  any  line  of  any  Kind  immediately  upon  Broadway. 
The  following  figures  will  give,  it  is  believed,  sufficient  infor- 
mation to  enable  our  citizens  and  property  owners  to  arrive  at 
some  general  understanding  of  this  branch  of  the  subject : 
The  distance  of  the  proposed  line  of  the  western  branch  of 
the  Viaduct  road  from  the  line  of  Broadway  can  be  stated  as 
follows  :  For  the  first  five  miles,  the  average  distance  from 
Broadway  is  about  30t>  feet.  For  the  next  two  miles  about 
650  feet,  and  for  the  remainder  of  the  route,  to  One  Hundred 
and  Fiftieth  street,  where  the  Boulevard  is  not  a  central  line,  it 
will  in  no  place  deviate  more  than  1,250  feet,  or  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile.  The  principal  stations  between  Chambers  street 
and  Fiftj-eighth  street  are  within  100  feet,  242  feet,  and  350 
feet  from  the  line  of  Broadway. 

The  all-important  fact  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  proposed  Viaduct  will  be  almost  wholly  free  from  any 
claims  for  damages  of  any  description  for  undermining  build- 
ings or  disturbing  sewers,  gas  or  water  pipes,  and  especially  in 
the  low  ground  at  Canal  street. 

As  to  the  general  effect  of  the  proposed  structure,  it  is 
claimed  that  if  the  Viaduct  is  built  as  it  is  at  present  designed, 
it  will  be  in  its  architectural  symmetry  a  sufficient  advance 
over  and  above  the  character  of  the  buildings  now  on  the  line, 
to  make  it  not  only  devoid  of  the  damage  which  has  been  al- 
leged against  it,  but  an  improvement  to  the  city,  and  to  the 
quarters  through  which  it  will  run,  and,  in  addition,  at  least 
four-tenths  of  the  adjoining  property  will  be  directly  improved 
in  value,  by  reason  of  the  structure  of  the  stations  and  their 
proximity  for  business  purposes  and  the  convenience  of  the 
public. 

In  regard  to  the  probable  cost  of  taking  the  necessary 
property  on  the  line  of  the  route,  considerable  doubt  and  some 
apprehension  has  been  produced  by  vague  statements  and 
loose  calculations. 


23 


It  is  impossible  to  make  any  accurate  estimate  of  this  cost 
at  this  stage  of  the  enterprise,  but  it  is  proper  to  state  that  the 
allegations  in  relation  thereto,  if  correct,  are  such  as  to  give 
very  comforting  impressions  as  to  the  value  of  real  estate  on 
this  Island.  If  the  cost  is  to  be,  as  has  been  alleged,  at  the 
rate  of  $4,000,000  per  mile,  it  will  result,  as  far  as  can  be  ap- 
proximately calculated,  that  each  lot  of  land  averaging  25  x 
100  feet,  with  or  without  buildings,  (allowing  eighty  lots  to  the 
mile,)  will  cost  $50,000.  I  am  informed  and  have  reason  to 
believe,  from  good  authority,  that  one-third  or  one-quarter  of 
that  sum  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  average  cost  of  land 
per  lot  on  the  line  of  the  proposed  route. 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  charter  of  the  road  contem- 
plates a  viaduct  railway  throughout  the  city,  as  in  the  twelfth 
section  thereof  it  is  provided  that  nothing  therein  contained 
shall  be  deemed  or  taken  to  authorize  the  laying  of  rails  for 
the  purpose  of  said  railway  upon  the  surface  of  any  of  the 
streets  and  avenues  of  said  city. 

The  capital  stock  of  the  Company  that  is  to  build  the  via- 
duct, will  rest  upon  a  much  more  valuable  basis  than  that  of 
any  other  railway  based  upon  a  mere  franchise,  inasmuch  as 
the  Company  will  own  in  fee  the  foundation  of  its  railway, 
yielding  rents  and  constantly  increasing  in  value. 


Present  Condition  of  West  Side  Improvements,  (continued,) 
by  Mr.  H.  B.  Bacon. 

The  maps  of  the  West  Side,  showing  the  Streets,  Avenues 
and  Public  Places  laid  out,  those  closed  and  abandoned,  and 
tho->e  retained  by  the  Park  Commissioners,  and  also  the  grades 
of  such  Streets,  Avenues  and  Public  Places,  were  filed,  pursu- 
ant to  the  requirements  of  the  Act  of  the  24th  April,  1867,  on 
the  7th  March,  1868. 

Since  these  maps  were  filed,  Eighth  Avenue,  by  Act  of  the 
3d  May,  1870,  amending  acts  of  1866  and  1867,  has  received  a 
new  grade  from  59th  street  to  122d  street.    Some  slight 


24 


changes  have  been  made  on  Ninth  Avenue,  between  83d 
street  and  93d  street,  on  the  New  Avenue,  situated  between 
Eighth  and  Ninth  Avenues,  north  of  100th  street,  and  also  on 
the  Avenue  east  of  the  Convent  grounds. 

The  following  tables  give  the  elevations  in  feet  and  inches 
above  high  water  mark,  of  all  the  grades  on  the  West  Side,  as 
amended  to  date,  at  the  intersection  of  each  avenue  and 
street : 


Avenue. 

u 
> 

<a 
3 

o 
> 

a 
< 

u 
9 

Street. 

5 

Ninth  A 

Bouleva 

£ 
o 

i) 

3) 

a 

CO 

59th 

.  76. 

4. 

84. 

76  4 

70  5. 

23.  . 

60th 

76. 

4. 

81. 

77  4 

77.4.. 

23.  . 

61st 

.  76. 

4. 

78 

79 

1  u. 

79.6. 

23.  . 

62d . 

.  76. 

4. 

to. 

1  o. 

77.4. 

23.  . 

63d 

..  T6. 

4. 

75 

I  o. 

71  6 

65.6 

34.  . 

64th 

76. 

4. 

76 

1  u. 

76 

60.  . 

45.  . 

Ut)  III 

.  76. 

4. 

I  'x.    U . 

60.  . 

45.  . 

66th . . 

76. 

4 

74.  3. 

73.  . 

60.  . 

35.  . 

67  th .  . 

80. 

2. 

76.10. 

74.6 

67.6. 

41.  . 

68th . . 

.  84. 

1 

.  79.  2. 

76.  . 

73.  . 

51.  . 

69th . 

.  88. 

82.  . 

.  77.6. 

.  76.  . 

.  58.  . 

70th . . 

.  88. 

84.  . 

76. 

76.  . 

.  58.  . 

71st .  . 

.  88. 

84.  . 

74.  . 

74.  . 

62.  . 

72d . . 

.  88. 

84.  . 

72.  . 

72.  . 

66.  . 

60. 

73d  . . 

..  88. 

.  84.  . 

.  72.  . 

72. 

.  72.8. 

.  62.6 

74th  . 

.  88. 

83.  9 

72.  . 

73.4 

79.4. 

65. 

75th .  . 

.  88. 

83.  6. 

74.  . 

74.9. 

86.  . 

67.6 

76th . . 

.  88. 

83.  3. 

76.  . 

76.1. 

86.  . 

70. 

77th . 

.  88. 

.  83.  . 

76.  . 

.  77.6. 

.  80.  . 

.  60. 

78th .  . 

.  83. 

83.  3.. 

74.  .. 

75.5. . 

74.  . 

50.  . 

79th . . 

.  88. 

83.  6. 

70.6. 

74.4. 

68.  . 

40. 

80th . 

.  88. 

83;  9. 

67.  . 

72.  . 

60.6. 

44. 

81st  . 

.  92. 

6. 

81.  .. 

64.  .. 

70.  . 

53.  . 

47. 

82d . .  . 

.  97. 

82.  6.  . 

66.  . 

75.8.  . 

55.  . . 

50.  . 

83d . .  . 

.101. 

6. 

81.  .. 

68.  .. 

81.4.. 

57.  .. 

51.4. 

25 


«5 

§  I 

ts        2       a  I 

ao  W  « 

84th.  ..106.    ..83.    .  .  70.  . 

85th. .  .108.    . .  84.10.  .  73.  , 

86th. .  .108.    . .  86.  9. .  76.  . 

87th... 108.    .,  91.  6..  79. 

88th... 109.  9..  96.  3..  82.  . 

89th..  111.  6..  101.    ..  85. 


90th . 

.113.  3. 

.105. 

9. 

.  88.  . 

.100.  . 

.  74.  . 

.  70.  . 

91st . . 

115.  . 

.110. 

6. 

91.  . 

.103.  . 

.  77.  . 

.  75.  . 

92d  . . 

.115.  . 

.116. 

.  94. 

.106.  . 

.  77.  . 

.  80.  . 

93d  .. 

111.  1. 

.120. 

.  88. 

.101.6. 

.  71.3. 

.  66.  . 

94th. 

.107.  2. 

.120. 

.  82. 

.  97.  . 

.  62.6. 

.  51.  . 

95th  . 

.103.  3. 

.  i  i  ). 

.  76. 

.  92.6. 

.  53.9. 

.  36.  . 

96th  . 

.  99.  . 

.  uo. 

.  70. 

.  87.6. 

.  45.  . 

.  21.  . 

97th. 

.  94.  3. 

.  90. 

.  74. 

.  89.5. 

.  60.  . 

.  36.  . 

98th . 

.  901J. 

.  83. 

.  78. 

.  91.2. 

.  75.  . 

.  51.  . 

99th. 

.  86.11  . 

.  83. 

.  82. 

.92,11. 

.  90.  . 

.  66.  . 

100th  . 

..83.  . 

.  83. 

.  86. 

.  .  94.8. 

.  95.  . 

.  81.  . 

.  84.  9 

101st . 

.  83.  . 

.  95. 

.  90.  . 

.  96.5. 

.100.  . 

.  86.  . 

.  93.10 

102d . . 

.  83.  . 

.107. 

.  92. 

.  98.2. 

.105.  . 

.  90.  . 

.  98. 

103d  . . 

..83.  . 

.114. 

.  96. 

.  98.2. 

.110.  . 

.  90.  . 

.108. 

104th  . 

.  83.  . 

.114. 

.100. 

.101.7. 

.110.  . 

.  90.  . 

.108. 

105th . 

.  83.  . 

.108. 

.104. 

.105.  . 

.110.  . 

.100.  . 

.  96.  6 

106th . 

76.  1. 

.  98. 

.104. 

..105.  . 

.107.  . 

.108.  . 

.  81. 

107th . 

. .  69.  2. 

.  88. 

.104. 

..105.  . 

.104.  . 

.102.6. 

.  65.  6 

108th. 

.  .  62.10. 

.  82. 

4. 

.104. 

..105.  . 

.  95.  . 

.  59.  6 

109th  . 

. .  56.  5. 

.  76. 

8. 

.104. 

..105.  . 

.100.  . 

.  53.  6 

110th. 

.  50.  . 

.  71. 

.  106. 

.105.  . 

.105.  . 

.  47.  6 

The  above  table  shows  the  grades  at  all  the  corners  between 
59th  street  and  110th  street,  except  the  grades  of  the  Twelfth 
Avenue  ;  this  avenue  runs  near  the  river,  and  at  an  uuiform 
elevation  of  ten  feet  above  high  water  level. 

Above  110th  street  the  new  avenues  are  more  numerous, 


.  87.  ..  59.  ..  63.  . 

.  87.6..  61.  ..  75.  . 

.  88.  . .  63-  .  .  75.  . 

.  91.  .  .  65.  . .  75.  . 

.  94.  ..  68.  .  75.  . 

.  97.  ..  71.  ..  75,  . 


26 


and  owing  to  the  Manhattan  valley,  and  the  high  ground 
north  of  it,  the  grades  show  great  variations. 

The  following  table  shows  the  grades  at  the  intersections 
north  of  110th  street  to  125th  street. 


0 

§ 

a  a 

8a 
|« 

3 

?  3 

si 
53® 

cc  « 

-w  ~ 

6 

•  D  ive. 

Street. 

3 

CJ5 

u 

New  Aven 
Eighth  i 

Avenue. 

«t 

3  u 

< 

>  1 
S  l 

=  o 
< 

> 
< 

3 
H 

83 

-2 

o 
CO 

'7. 

u 

CO 
> 

5 

111th.. 

.  .47.11. 

.38.  . 

.38. 

89. 

.  .112.6. 

.111. 

4. 

.105. 

112th.. 

.  .45.11. 

.36.6. 

.36. 

6. 

.107. 

.  .120.  . 

.116. 

8. 

.100. 

113th.. 

.  .43.11. 

.35.  . 

.35. 

6. 

.116. 

120. 

.  122. 

.  95. 

114th . . 

.  .41.10. 

.34.6. 

.33. 

6. 

.120. 

120. 

.122. 

.  90. 

115th . . 

.  .39.10. 

.33.6. 

.31. 

6. 

126. 

129. 

.122. 

.  84. 

116th . . 

.  .37.  7. 

.32.6. 

.30. 

.  132. 

.138.  . 

.128. 

1 

.  94. 

117th . . 

.  .35.  5. 

.31.6. 

.30. 

.  i32. 

..138.  . 

.134. 

3. 

.100.10 

118th. . 

.  .33.  5. 

30.6. 

.  30. 

.128. 

.  .126.6. 

.134. 

3. 

.107. 

8 

119th  . . 

..31.  4. 

.29.6. 

.30. 

.123. 

.115.  . 

.123. 

9. 

.114. 

6 

120th . . 

.  .29.  4. 

.28.6. 

.30. 

.113. 

..100.  . 

.113. 

4. 

.121. 

4 

121st . . 

.  .27.  3. 

.27.6. 

.30. 

.103. 

.  .  85.  . 

.102.11. 

.128. 

2 

122d . . . 

.  .25.  3. 

.27.6. 

.30. 

.  70. 

.  .  70.  . 

.  92. 

6. 

.128. 

2 

123d . . . 

..23.  . 

.26.  . 

.27. 

6. 

.  .  55.  . 

.  82. 

.124. 

8 

124th  . . 

.  .22.  3. 

.26.  . 

.25. 

. .  40.  . 

.  71. 

7. 

.121. 

2 

125th  . . 

..24.  7. 

.24.10. 

. .  25.  . 

.  60. 

3. 

.103. 

8 

The  Riverside  Drive  north  of  125th  street  has  the  following 
grades  : 

126th  street  86  feet  3  inches. 

127th  street  72  " 

129th  street,  10  " 

where  it  intersects  the  Twelfth  Avenue. 

The  following  table  shows  the  grades  at  the  intersections 
north  of  125th  street  to  145th  street : 


27 


33 

126th . 
127th . 
128th . 
129th . 
130th . 
131st . 
132d . 
Manhattan. 
Lawrence. . 


.26.11 
.28.  8 
.30.  5 
.28.  8 
.26.11 
.25.  3 
.26.11 


133d.. 
134th . 
135th . 
136th  . 
137th  . 
138th . 
139th . 
140th . 
141st . 
142d.. 
143d  . . 
144th . 
145th . 


.28.  8 
.26.11 
.25.  1. 
.24.  6 
.24. 
.23.  6. 
.  23.  . 
.22.  6. 
.22.  . 
.21.  6. 
.21.  . 
.20.  6. 
.20.  . 


< 
30. 
32.6 
35. 
35. 
35. 
37.2. 
37.2 


.35. 
.35. 
,35. 
.35. 
.35. 
35. 
.35. 
41.3 
47.6, 
53.9 
,  60. 
66.3 
73. 


%  o 

26. 
36. 
46. 
56. 
66. 
76. 
86. 


96. 
106. 
116. 
120. 
123.6 
127. 
128. 
118.  . 
108.  . 
112.6 
117.  . 
108.6. 
100.  . 


31 
11 


I! 


20.  . 

28.  6. 
34.  6. 
42.  6. 
60.  2. 


77. 

25. 


95.  2. 
.114.  8. 
129.  3. 
143.10. 
156.10. 
156.10. 
146.  5. 
136.  . 
127.  . 
127.  . 
127.  . 
127.  . 
127.  . 


26.10 
36.  2 
48.  9, 
59.10 
26.10 
29. 


.  92. 
.1(16. 
.121. 
.131. 
.131. 
.129. 
.127. 


49.1 

38.8 

28.4. 

22. 

32.5 

42.9 

53.2 


63.7 

,  74. 
85.2, 
88.9, 
92.5, 
96.  . 
97.8. 
99.4. 

101.  . 

102.8 

104.4. 

106.  . 

107.7. 


.35. 
.31.  9 
.28.  7 
.25.  5 
.24.10 
.24.  2 
.23.  5 
.22.  8 
.37.  4 


A  second  new  avenue  west  of  Eighth  Avenue  has  the  fol- 
lowing grades : 

141st  street  24  feet  10  inches. 

142d     "  24  "     2  " 

143d     "   26   "     3  " 

144th    "   41   "     9  " 

145th    "   57  "     2  " 

Above  145th  street,  the  principal  feature  is  the  hillside  just 
west  of  Eighth  Avenue,  traversed  by  two  parallel  terrace  ave- 
nues, situated  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Avenues. 


28 


This  hillside  commands  an  extensive  view  ever  the  Harlem 
River,  and  at  some  future  time,  the  space  between  these  par- 
allel avenues  may  be  found  desirable  for  Parks.  Between 
145th  street  and  155th  street  the  grades  are  as  follows : 

The  avenue  nearest  the  Eighth  Avenue  is  designated  as 
the  First  Terrace  Avenue,  and  the  one  west  of  that  as  the 
Second  Terrace  Avenue. 


146th  .... 

 19.6. 

.21.8. 

.  70. 

.  80.  8. 

.127. 

.  109.4 

147th  .... 

 19.  . 

.21.2. 

.  85. 

.  87.10. 

.127. 

.111. 

148th  .... 

 18.6. 

.20.8. 

.  70. 

.  95.  . 

.127. 

.111. 

149th  .... 

 18.  . 

.20.2. 

.  80. 

.  95.  . 

.127. 

.111. 

150th  ... 

....18.  . 

.19.8. 

.  90. 

.101.11 

.101.11. 

.127. 

.111. 

151st  

 17.  . 

.19.2. 

.  85. 

.108.  9. 

.lo:5.  . 

.127. 

.119. 

152d  .... 

 16.6. 

.18.8. 

.  80 

115.  9. 

.103.  . 

.130. 

.128. 

153d  

 16.  . 

.18.3. 

.  9o: 

.122.  7. 

.  105.  . 

.133. 

.136. 

154th  .... 

 15.6. 

.18.2. 

.100. 

.129.  4. 

.  105.  . 

.141. 

.  126.9 

155th .... 

 15.  . 

.  18.2 . 

.105. 

.  136.  . 

.  105.  . 

.146. 

.115.5 

The  new  avenue  between  the  Boulevard  and  the  Riverside 
Drive  has  the  following  grades  : 


Street. 

Feet. 

116th 

114. 

117th 

117. 

118th 

120. 

119th 

120. 

120th 

117. 

121st .... 

....115.6 

Street.  Feet. 

122d  110.3 

123d   99.3 

124th   88.3 

125th   76.4 

126th   64.7 

127th   55. 


Manhattan  street  has  the  following  grades  at  these  intersec- 
tions : 


29 


Feet. 

At  Avenue  St  Nicholas  26. 

"  Ninth  Avenue  25.  6 

"  125th  street  23.  4 

"  Tenth  Avenue  20. 

"  Bloomingdale  Road  26.10 

"  Eleventh  Avenue  28,  3 

"  129th  street  17.10 

"  Twelfth  Avenue  10. 


Lawrence  street,  parallel  with  Manhattan  street,  has  these 
grades : 


Feet. 

At  126th  street   .26.11 

"  127th  street  26.  9 

"  Tenth  Avenue  25.  4 

"  Bloomingdale  Road  29. 

-  129th  street  22. 


The  Avenue  St.  Nicholas,  from  110th  street  to  125th  street, 
lias  the  following  grades  : 


Street.  Feet. 

110th  22.5 

111th  23,6 

112th  24.7 

113th  25.8 

114th  26.9 

115th  27.9 

116th  28.6 

117th  28.2 


Street.  Feet. 

118th  27.  9 

119th  27.  4 

120th  26.11 

121st  26.10 

122d  26.  4 

123d  2G.  2 

123th  26. 

125th  27.  9 


That  section  lying  between  Ceotral  Park  and  the  Harlem 
River,  and  west  of  the  Eighth  Avenue,  is  noticeable  for  the 
uniformity  of  its  surface,  being  a  nearly  level  plane ;  it  has  the 
following  grades : 


30 


si 

a.  0 


110th  

.  .  .  .32. 

6  

 22. 

R 

'j  

10  4- 

 XU.  tc 

111th   

. . .  .31.10  

23 

6 

yj  

10  ft 

 x\J,  O 

112th   

...31. 

2  

 22. 

Q  

1 1 

 JL  X. 

H3th  

....  30. 

6  

 21. 

6  

1 1  4 

 XX.  rt 

H4th  

...29.10  

20 

6 

1 1  8 

....     XX.  o 

H5th  

....29. 

2  

19 

 X  o  • 

6 

yj  

12 

 jL  _ . 

H6th  

....28. 

6  

18 

Q  

12  4 

117th  

. . .  .27.10  

 19. 

1  

15  2 

.....   L'l.  ii 

118th 

....27. 

 19. 

Q 

(/..«•• 

17  10 

 X  (  .  11/ 

119th   

....  26. 

6  

 20. 

R 

yj  

20  7 

120th 

....25.10  

21 

1 

23  4 

.....   »J<J.  X 

121st 

....  25. 

2  

 21. 

9  

1 22  d 

...  24. 

6  

 22. 

5  .... 

X  i-t>J\  l      .  .  .  . 

.  ..23.10  

....  23. 

1  .  .  .  . 

1  24-th 

....23. 

2  

 23. 

9  

10  ft 

 X  U  •  \J 

125  Hi 

±  _  •  >  l  1 1    .   .   .  . 

....23. 

 24. 

5  

17  4 

 XI.  tt 

1  26th 

j- —  win  .  .  .  . 

....22. 

9  

 25. 

1  

20  3 

1  27th 

....23. 

5  

 25. 

1  

 18.  6 

198th 

XZiOLll  .  .  .  . 

....24. 

1  

 24. 

3  

20  2 

1 99th 

X uXJ  111  .  .  .  . 

....  24. 

9  

 23. 

5  

IS  6 

 X  yj .  V/ 

1  '-,0th 

....24. 

5  

 22. 

7  

20  3 

....  26. 

1  

....21.  9  

 X  (J.  \J 

....26. 

9  

 20.11  

16  9 

 x  U.  «y 

133d  .... 

...  .27. 

5  

 20. 

1  

 15. 

134th  .... 

....  28. 

1...  . 

 19. 

3  

 13.  3 

135th 

....  28. 

9  

 18. 

3  

 11.  5 

136th .... 

....  29. 

5  

 17. 

4  

. . . .  10.  8 

137th  .... 

....30. 

1  

 16. 

6  

 10. 

138th 

....  30. 

9  

 15.  8  

  9.  4 

139th 

....31. 

5  

..  ..14.10  

  8.  8 

140th 

....32. 

1  

 14. 

  8. 

141st 

....32. 

1  

 13. 

2  

. . . .    7.  4 

142d  .... 

....  30. 

9  

 12. 

4  

  6.  8 

31 


q  . 

t> 

6  £ 

I  IS 

143d   29.  6 

144th   28.  2 

145th  26.  9 

146th  24.  6 

147th  22.  5 

148th  20.  4 

149th  '.8.  3 

150th  16.  2 

151st  14.  1 

152d  12. 

153d   9.11 

154th   7.10 

155th   6. 


5  § 

33 

11.  6 
10.  8 
9.  9 
8.10 
8. 

7.  2 
6.  4 
6. 


The  Twelfth  Avenue  has  a  level  grade  of  10  feet  elevation 
above  high  water  mark,  from  59th  street  to  150th  street;  at 
15 1st  street,  7  feet  6  inches,  and  from  152d  street  to  155th 
street,  5  feet. 

These  tables  complete  the  grades  at  all  the  intersections  of 
all  the  streets  and  avenues  on  the  West  Side. 

Of  course,  at  intermediate  points  along  the  blocks,  the 
grades  will  be  higher  or  lower  at  some  points  than  at  the  cor- 
ners, but  the  intersections  are  the  controlling  points. 


The  Association  then  adjourned. 

JAMES  F.  EUGGLES, 

Secretary, 


WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 
New-York,  1870-1871. 


Document  No.  6. 
PROCEEDINGS 

OF  THIS 

SIXTH  PUBLIC  MEETING 
Held   on   the   36th    May,  1871. 

ADDRESSES  BY 

WILLIAM  E.  MARTIN, 
Hon.  FERNANDO  WOOD, 
Hon.  H.  C.  VAN  VORST,  Ac. 


J.  ADM  AH  8AOKETT,  LAW,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER 

Nr.  48  Jo*  it  Smt'.KT 

1871. 


OFFICEKS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION, 


:o:- 


PRESIDENT, 

WM.  R.  MARTIN,  141  Broadway. 

SECRETARY, 

JAMES  F.  RUGGLES,  6  IVaU  Street. 

TREASURER, 

R.  H.  ARKENBURGH,  35  Broad  Street. 


WM.  A.  WHITBECK, 
COURTLANDT  PALMER, 
JOHN  Q.  JONES, 
FERNANDO  WOOD, 
R.  H.  ARKKNBQRGH, 
W.  C.  H.  WADDELL, 
JAMES  T.  KING, 
JAMES  MONTEITH, 
R03WELL  D.  HATCH, 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE, 

ANDREW  OARRIGAN, 
CHARLES  SAN  FORD, 
CHARLES  S.  WEBB, 
V.  K.  STEVENSON, 
LEWIS  B.  BROWN. 
CYRUS  CLARK, 
JOHN  T.  DALY, 
JOHN  W.  PIRSSON. 


MARSHALL  O.  ROBERTS, 
DANIEL  F.  TIEMANN, 
CHAS.  F.  LIVER  MORE, 
WM.  T.  BLODGETT, 
JOHN  A.  C.  GRAY. 
A.  S.  JARVIS, 
DAVID  H.  KNAPP, 
PHILIP  G.  WEAVER 
BEXJ.  F.  BEEKMAN. 


The  Meeting  on  the  26th  of  May,  1.871,  was  opened  by  the 
President,  who  said  : 

Gentlemen : 

When  we  commenced  six  months  ago  our  operations,  the 
♦condition  of  things  on  the  West  Side  in  reference  to  the  sub- 
ject of  Rapid  Transit  and  all  local  improvements  was  far  from 
being  satisfactory.  It  is  not  for  us,  but  for  you,  to  say  whether 
we  have  aided  any  in  producing  the  change  in  the  direction  of 
which  we  have  been  steadily  working  month  after  month.  We 
£rust  that  you  are  better  satisfied  to-day  with  the  situation, 
and  with  the  public  appreciation  of  West  Side  property,  as 
manifested  in  their  disposition  to  buy  it  at  advanced  prices. 

The  Fifth  Avenue  side  of  the  Park  has  attained  very  high 
values  for  unoccupied  property.  We  all  know  that  in  fact 
West  Side  property  has  equal  value — real  and  intrinsic  value. 
The  difference  lies  in  this  fact — that  on  the  East  Side  a  wider 
area  is  ready  for  building,  and  by  the  Madison  and  Fourth 
Avenues  it  has  earlier  chances  of  Rapid  Transit.  We  want 
these  improvements  made  on  the  West  Side  ;  just  as  soon  as 
they  are  made  population  will  flow  in  and  high  values  will  be 
reached.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  public  seizes 
iiolcl  of  every  new  indication  that  these  changes  will  be  real- 
ized and  prices  go  up.  That  is  the  reason  why  we  want  these 
improvements  made  this  year,  and  not  ten  years  hence.  If 
they  are  not,  we  will  find  these  advancing  prices  used  as  the 
sre&son  for  higher  taxation. 

If  the  organization  of  the  New- York  Railway  Company  yes- 
terday means  business,  well-planned  and  energetic  business, 
then  we  shall  have  Rapid  Transit.  A  wealthy  and  eminent 
gentleman,  who  once  did  an  extensive  real  estate  business  in 
.%  Western  city,  attributes  his  success  in  selling  out  of  town 


6 


lots  to  the  fast  horse  he  happened  to  have.  When  he  took 
out  his  purchasers  over  the  prairies  to  sell  his  lots  to  them, 
they  thought  that  all  his  land  lay  within  half  a  mile  of  his 
office.  It  was  not  until  they  went  alone  that  they  found  it  was 
five  miles  off.  The  beauties  and  advantages  of  the  West  Side 
are  to-day  almost  wholly  unknown  and  neglected.  If  the 
steam  railroad  were  built,  and  the  Boulevard  finished  for  fast 
travel,  the  effect  on  values  would  be  the  same  as  if  Blooming- 
dale  and  Manhattanville  were  brought  within  half  a  mile  of 
Union  Square.  The  Directors  appointed  yesterday  are  to 
meet  on  Monday  next  for  their  organization.  They  have  as 
absolute  power  to  do  their  work  as  the  Legislature  could  de- 
vise, and  they  must  be  held  to  the  responsibilities  of  absolute 
power.  If  they  do  their  work  on  a  wise  and  comprehensive 
plan,  with  energy  and  promptness,  we  can  aid  in  giving  them 
the  support  of  a  public  opinion  in  advance  of  them.  If  they 
indulge  in  disastrous  delays,  and  in  some  other  peculiarities 
which  have  heretofore  marked  the  administration  of  city  af- 
fairs, we  shall  be  without  remedy  or  protection,  unless  we  can 
array  public  opinion  on  the  side  of  the  right,  and  see  whether 
it  has  any  power  in  it.  But  few  of  the  men  engaged  in  it 
have  a  full  sense  of  the  conditions  of  the  problem  they  have 
undertaken  to  solve,  or  of  the  embarrassments  that  will  arise 
in  their  path.  The  public  intelligence  to-day  is  probably 
largely  in  advance  of  the  gentlemen  who  have  assumed  these 
responsibilities,  but  they  have  undertaken  the  work,  and  we 
must  give  them  our  earnest  co-operation  and  support.  We 
therefore  wait  anxiously  to  see  what  they  will  do,  what  route 
they  propose,  what  plan  they  adopt,  and  how  they  propose  to 
accomplish  it. 

The  confirmation  of  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  on  the 
Riverside  Park  has  been  adjourned  to  the  second  Monday  of 
June.  An  opposition  of  a  singular  character  has  arisen  to 
this  measure.  Under  the  guise  of  an  attempt  to  reduce  the 
assessments  many  were  led  to  sign  a  petition  to  that  end,  and 
also  to  defeat  the  Park  itself.  If  any  persons  really  intended 
to  defeat  the  plan  of  having  a  park,  it  will  console  them  to 
know  that  they  cannot  possibly  succeed  in  it,  and  that  they 
will  secure  a  just  and  careful  revision  of  their  assessments. 


7 


When  the  application  was  made  to  Judge  Barnard  for  the  ad- 
journment on  the  lOfch  of  May,  upon  an  opposition  to  it  on  the 
part  of  the  property  owners,  he  made  the  adjournment  a  per- 
emptory one ;  that  is,  that  the  report  should  then  be  ready 
without  further  adjournment.  That  the  plan  of  the  Park  must 
be  carried  out,  that  any  change  is  utterly  disastrous  and  out 
of  the  question,  will  be  obvious  on  slight  reflection  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  grades.  There  must  be  a  park  along  the  slope  as 
now  laid  out,  or  a  wall  and  terrace  to  retain  the  hill  side,  or 
the  streets  must  be  graded  down.  The  first  is  the  only  plan 
which  is  practicable  or  economical.  The  others  would  be  de- 
structive to  property  and  value.  All  the  grades  of  the  streets^ 
back  to  the  Eighth  Avenue,  have  been  adjustedt  o  the  Riverside 
Park ;  so  has  the  grade  of  the  Boulevard  and  of  the  Avenues. 
The  money  already  expended  in  working  these  grades,  and  in 
the  sewers  according  to  them,  would  exceed  all  the  cost  of  the 
Riverside  Park  to  the  property  owners ;  while  to  destroy  the 
Park  would  damage  property  within  the  area  of  assessment 
ten-fold  the  amount  of  the  assessment. 

The  Boulevard  is  the  main  thoroughfare  of  the  West  Side, 
and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  that  it  should  be  finished 
so  as  to  be  brought  into  use  for  public  travel  at  the  earliest 
practicable  moment.  Complaints  are  very  general  that  this 
work  is  proceeding  very  slowly,  not  that  men  are  not  employed 
on  the  work  in  large  numbers,  but  that  in  face  of  that  fact  the 
results  are  not  reached,  because  the  work  is  not  done.  Gen- 
tlemen who  have  any  personal  knowledge  of  these  complaints,, 
so  as  to  know  that  they  are  well  founded,  should  not  hesitate 
to  bring  them,  directly  or  through  our  Executive  Committee,, 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks,  for  they 
express  the  intention  to  have  this  work  actively  pushed  for- 
ward. 

Another  very  important  matter  for  the  West  Side  is  a  north- 
ern outlet,  not  towards  Yonkers,  to  which  very  few  drive,  but 
eastward  towards  Jerome  Park  and  Fordham,  where  everybody 
goes.  Existing  provisions  of  law  contemplate  a  bridge  across 
the  Harlem  River,  within  a  half  mile  above  the  High  Bridge,, 
a  Suspension  Bridge  from  the  heights  of  Fort  George,  on  the 
New-York  side,  to  the  Westchester  Heights.    If  this  were  con- 


8 


structed  there  would  be  a  way  unsurpassed  in  directness  and 
natural  beauty,  through  widened  Broadway  and  the  Boulevard, 
Carmansville,  and  the  new  biidge  over  the  Harlem  to  Jerome 
Park,  along  which  every  one  would  drive ;  and  the  belief 
would  become  general  that  the  whole  West  Side  was  within 
an  hour,  or  half  an  hour  when  there  was  no  dust,  of  Madison 
Square.  If  this  were  done,  and  it  might  be  done  in  two  sum- 
mers, the  rich  men  would  desert  the  Fifth  Avenue  and  talk 
only  of  the  West  Side.  This  depends,  of  course,  on  the  fast 
horse  theory  of  high  prices. 

The  exemption  of  bonds  and  mortgages  from  taxation  is  a 
matter  of  which  every  owner  feels  the  importance  ;  it  bears 
heavily  on  his  interests.  If  money  were  freely  loaned  on  mort- 
gage, as  it  would  be  with  this  exemption,  it  would  be  easier  to 
carry  lots  ;  men  could  more  readily  avail  themselves  of  the 
credit  which  their  property  entitles  them  to,  and  all  building 
operations  would  be  facilitated.  This  is  a  subject  which  we 
must  discuss,  rouse  public  opinion,  and  lead  the  public  judg- 
ment to  the  enactment  of  some  relief  at  the  ensuing  session 
of  the  Legislature.  We  must,  during  the  summer  and  coming 
year,  give  attention  to  the  development  of  these  arguments, 
in  two  directions  :  the  first  to  persuade  the  farmers  of  the 
justice  of  it,  for  they  must  be  in  favor  of  it,  since  taxation 
must  be  uniform  throughout  the  State,  and  secondly,  to  con- 
vince our  city  administration  that  it  will  aid  them  in  bringing 
a  larger  amount  of  property  under  taxation,  and  thus  realize 
more  money,  and  make  the  burden  lighter  at  the  same  time. 

This  meeting  will  close  our  series  of  meetings  for  this  season. 
If  it  be  the  pleasure  of  the  Association,  we  propose  to  do  some 
work  during  the  summer,  and  to  be  prepared  for  active  and 
early  operations  in  the  fall  on  these  questions,  which  concern 
so  nearly  and  benefit  so  largely  our  property,  and  also  the 
public  interests. 

This  is  a  great  era  for  capital  cities.  Berlin  is  beginning  a 
career  of  aggrandizement  as  the  capital  of  the  German  empire. 
Rome  will  again  become  the  capital  of  Italy.  London  has 
reached  the  population  of  three  and  a  quarter  millions,  and 
Paris  is  being  destroyed.  Do  you  fail  to  discern  the  power  of 
the  people?    Liomloii  has  grown  so  great  under  a  monarchy 


9 


which  has  yielded  so  constantly  to  the  demands  of  the  people 
that  the  crown  is  but  a  name  under  which  the  people  have 
their  own  way,  and  it  is  a  question  openly  discussed  whether 
there  shall  be  another  succession.  Paris  has  grown  rich  and 
beautiful  Sunder  Louis  XIY,  and  Imperialism,  until  in  the  re- 
action of  the  uncontrolled  fury  of  the  people,  the  monuments 
of  Imperialism  are  being  destroyed.  The  people  will  be  none 
the  worse  for  this  iconoclasm — hero  worship  is  a  dream  from 
which  they  have  awakened.  New- York  is  attempting  to  solve 
the  difficult  political  problem  of  this  country  by  an  adminis- 
tration which  distinguishes  itself  from  Imperialism  by  rejecting 
its  motto  "  By  the  grace  of  God  and  the  will  of  the  people  " — 
I  do  not  know  what  motto  it  adopts — and  which  separates  it- 
self from  Democracy  by  omitting,  at  the  end  of  a  stated  term, 
to  return  its  power  to  the  people  in  the  Democratic  form  of  an 
election.  It  is  a  concentrated,  centralized,  powerful,  absolute 
government,  unrestrained  by  any  organic  law,  independent  of 
a  popular  election.  It  is  a  local  government  of  our  own  citi- 
zens. These  circumstances  show  it  to  be,  in  the  respects  in 
which  we  want  a  vigorous  government,  a  great  improvement 
on  the  forms  which  have  proceeded  it.  It  needs  to  consult 
•carefully  the  public  interests. 

New-York  is  at  an  epoch  when  splendid  and  grand  ideas  to 
fit  it  for  the  site  of  the  Metropolis  of  the  country  are  being 
■carried  into  execution,  and  a  vigorous  government  is  needed 
to  rise  above  the  poverty  of  plan  and  execution  which  have 
heretofore  characterized  Corporation  work.  A  glaring  illustra- 
tion is  found  in  the  streets  that  have  been  widened  and  ex- 
tended below  Fourteenth  street ;  so  needlessly  expensive,  so 
utterly  inadequate,  so  absurdly  planned,  that  they  can  be  de- 
fended only  by  conceding  that  there  was  no  plan  or  compre- 
hension of  the  case  about  it.  We  want  no  more  of  such  work. 
I  call  your  attention  to  the  advantages  of  a  vigorous  govern- 
ment in  carrying  out  these  great  city  works,  because  we  have 
opportunities  now  which  we  never  had  before,  power  in  able 
hands  susceptible  to  the  movements  of  public  opinion,  and  I 
<call  your  attention  to  the  inherent  weakness  of  the  administra- 
tion, in  order  that  you  may  discover  your  own  power.  It  is  a 
standing  defiance  and  affront  to  the  Democratic  sentiment, 


10 


in  that  it  fails  to  owe  its  being  directly  to  an  election  by  the 
people  ;  and  sooner  or  later  it  must  render  its  account.  But, 
in  the  meantime,  it  is  willingly  amenable  to  public  sentiment, 
and  it  seeks  to  promote  the  public  interests.  The  history  of 
English  liberty  teaches  you  that  under  a  suffrage,  limited  and 
restricted,  they  owed  their  successes  to  organized  public  opin- 
ion, in  classes  and  associations,  moving  in  masses  against 
public  wrongs,  and  in  favor  of  public  rights ;  and  so  to-day  we 
may  well  set  a  high  value  on  our  right  of  association  and  of 
free  speech.  What  has  become  of  your  direct  influence 
through  the  ballot  box  on  the  city  administration,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  election  of  a  President.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  a 
word  of  distrust  as  to  the  administration  I  speak  of.  By  look- 
ing these  facts  straight  in  the  face,  we  shall  come  into  clearer 
relations  to  the  men  who  have  power  over  us  and  our  property. 
We  shall  be  more  certain  to  be  just  and  reasonable  in  seeking 
our  ends,  and  more  certain  to  attain  them. 


 :o:  

Upon  the  subject  of  the  general  questions  of  Municipal 
Government  and  Public  Improvements,  with  especial  refer- 
ence AND  APPLICATION  TO  THE  WEST  SlDE,  the  Hon.  FERNANDO 

Wood  then  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr,  President  and  Gentlemen  : 

In  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  West  Side  Association, 
to  address  them  on  this  occasion,  I  did  not  think  it  was  within 
my  power  to  afford  any  instruction  or  to  throw  any  new  light 
upon  questions  in  which  they  are  already  so  well  instructed. 
So  many  able  addresses  have  been  already  delivered  before 
the  Association,  and  its  members  comprise  so  many  intelligent 
and  public-spirited  citizens,  that  it  looks  like  presumption  in  me 
to  offer  any  views  whatever.  Having  been  so  long  withdrawn 
from  municipal  affairs,  and  necessarily  absent  so  much  from 


11 


the  City  in  the  discharge  of  official  duties  elsewhere,  I  feel  my 
inability  to  do  myself  justice  in  this  once  familiar  field.  Having, 
however,  accepted  the  invitation,  I  am  here  in  pursuance  o: 
it,  and  shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  endeavor  to  discharge 
it.  Before  proceeding  to  the  consideration  of  the  questions  in 
which  the  West  Side  has  a  more  direct  interest,  let  me  premise 
by  referring  to  matters  upon  which  to  a  great  extent,  the  suc- 
cess of  all  large  cities  must  rely.  I  refer  to  the  character  of 
its  municipal  regulations,  the  efficiency  and  integrity  of  the 
governing  authority.  Though  we  may  be  interested  in  the 
promotion  of  the  West  Side,  as  such,  yet  we  should  not  forget 
that  what  is  of  interest  and  advantage  to  the  City  at  large,  is 
also  of  advantage  to  that  part  of  it  in  which  we  are  more  im- 
mediately interested. 

MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT. 

Therefore,  I  propose  to  speak  first  of  New- York,  and  to 
preface  what  I  have  to  say  on  that  subject,  by  calling  your  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  one  of  the  chief  considerations  in  this 
connection  is  the  kind  of  government  New- York  possesses. 
The  local  rule  of  a  community  is,  of  all  kinds  of  official  au- 
thority, paramount  to  the  citizens.  It  is  a  power  which  we 
canuot  avoid,  and  which  deals  with  us  in  the  most  delicate  re- 
lations of  life,  throughout  the  whole  period  of  time,  by  day  and 
by  night,  whether  in  ease  of  retiracy,  or  in  active  pursuits 
and  avocations.  Nothing  is  of  more  interest  to  a  people  than 
that  which  affects  them  directly  in  their  personal  capacity. 
Those  things  which  we  see  or  which  are  brought  home  to  us 
in  our  daily  walks  are,  of  all  others,  the  most  important,  be- 
cause the  most  felt.  However  great  may  be  the  influence  of 
remote  agencies  over  our  welfare,  it  is  natural  to  be  more  im- 
pressed by  the  present,  though  it  may  be  less  potential  in  its 
final  effects.  This  peculiar  tendency  of  the  human  mind,  is 
illustrated  by  the  great  interest  we  take  in  everything  con- 
nected with  our  municipal  affairs. 

Local  government  is  tangible  and  practical.  It  is  before 
us  all  the  while.  We  see  and  feel  it  continuously.  It  not  only 
visits  the  opulent,  but  every  other  class.    Life,  health,  comfort 


12 


aud  property  are  all  dependent  upon  it.  It  regulates  the  air 
we  breathe,  the  kind  of  social  order  we  possess,  the  security 
we  depend  upon,  and  the  physical  and  moral  status,  which,  as 
a  people,  we  are  enabled  to  enjoy  and  maintain.  In  short,  the 
nature  and  character  of  our  lives,  individually  as  well  as  col- 
lective^, are,  more  or  less,  under  its  influence — more  or  less 
reliant  upon  it.  If  we  find  malaria  at  our  doors,  we  charge  our 
municipal  rulers,  with  the  responsibility.  If  water,  light,  or 
any  other  of  the  great  life-sustaining  requisites,  are  insufficient 
or  defective,  we  make  the  like  complaint.  If  our  thorough- 
fares are  in  bad  condition,  or  obstructions  too  great,  vice  too 
open,  the  safety  of  person  not  sufficiently  protected,  or  too  gen- 
eral laxity  in  the  observance  of  those  moral  restraints  so 
necessary  for  the  proper  welfare  of  all,  we  hold  those  who 
have  the  power  to  correct  them  as  unmindful  of  duty.  And  so 
if  there  be  a  wasteful  extravagance,  or  improper  use  of  the 
public  funds,  we  complain  of  unjust  taxation,  of  inefficient 
execution  of  laws,  and  of  the  many  evils  incident  to  commu- 
nities closely  packed  together  by  forced  proximity.  All  this 
is  with  us  and  upon  us  every  day  in  the  year.  We  appreciate 
it  and  know  it  because  it  is  ever  present.  Not  so  the  rule  of 
the  National  and  State  Government.  Their  laws  reach  us 
but  remotely.  While  the  supreme  authority  holds  the  Na- 
tional power,  the  municipal  holds  the  individual  power. 
Hence  the  importance  of  good  local  laws,  and  of  a  just,  fair, 
vigorous  and  effective  execution  of  them. 

PREPARING  FOR  THE  FUTURE. 

But  in  New-York  more  than  this  is  required.  It  is  not  only 
necessary  that  we  should  be  governed  by  principles  of  integrity 
in  the  expenditures  and  fidelity  in  all  departments,  but  a  higher 
duty  devolves  upon  the  local  rulers.  They  must  have,  besides? 
an  appreciation  and  comprehension  of  the  needs  of  the  fu- 
ture in  preparing  this  Metropolis  for  the  coming  millions  who 
are  yet  to  constitute  its  population — not  onby  to  foresee  its 
coming  greatness,  and  to  provide  for  it,  but  also  to  render  the 
Metropolis  of  the  nation  at  this  time,  a  place  so  attractive  in 
appearance,  so  safe  in  security,  so  inviting  in  all  the  require- 


13 


ments  of  city  life,  as  to  bring  to  it  the  cultivated,  the  refined, 
and  the  opulent,  to  aid  in  its  support  and  growth,  while  enjoy- 
ing its  advantages.  By  such  intelligent  action  a  large  addi- 
tion may  be  made  to  the  substantial  wealth  of  the  city.  As  an 
illustration,  the  Central  Park  may  be  referred  to.  as  having 
added  millions  to  its  wealth,  not  only  in  enhancing  the  basis 
of  taxable  property,  but  also  as  one  of  the  great  inducements 
which  have  added  to  our  valuable  population. 

The  most  enlightened  statesmen  of  all  ages,  have  under- 
stood and  acted  upon  this  policy.  From  the  early  establish- 
ment of  Borne,  and  the  earlier  improvement  of  Tyre,  this  prin- 
ciple has  actuated  the  wisest  rulers  in  the  ornamentation  of 
capitals.  Even  modern  Europe  is  full  of  instances,  where  this 
intelligent  spirit  has  accomplished  wonderful  results.  TYhen 
Peter  the  Great,  of  Eussia,  obtained  the  reins  of  government, 
the  City  of  Moscow,  then  far  into  the  interior,  was  the  capital 
of  the  Empire,  but  he  saw  with  prophetic  vision,  the  necessity 
of  a  large  city  near  the  ocean,  by  which  to  create  and  facili- 
tate a  foreign  commerce.  With  this  object  in  view,  he  se- 
lected the  nearest  accessible  point  to  the  Gulf  of  Findland, 
upon  which  the  largest  navy  could  float ;  and  upon  this  spot, 
though  ill  adapted  to  the  purpose,  he  built  the  great  city  of 
St.  Petersburgh,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  capitals  of  Europe. 
Napoleon,  when  he  became  President  of  the  Republic  of 
France,  in  1848,  found  the  City  of  Paris  as  it  had  stood  unim- 
proved since  the  days  of  his  illustrious  uncle  in  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  and  by  his  genius  and  far-seeing  intelligence,  he 
transformed  it,  as  if  by  magic,  into  what  it  was  twelve  months 
since.  He  saw  that  he  could  add  hundreds  of  millions  to  the 
individual  wealth  of  his  people,  draw  from  the  pockets  of 
travelers  and  foreigners,  by  thus  seducing  them  to  enjoy  its 
splendor,  brightness,  and  marvelous  architectural  and  other 
attractions.  If  these  sagacious  men  accomplished  this  much 
with  but  little  original  advantages  to  build  upon,  how  much 
more  can  be  done  for  New- York,  where  nature  appears  to 
have  more  than  half  accomplished  all  that  is  desired  to  make 
New- York  the  superior  of  either  Paris  or  St.  Petersburgh. 

Material  improvements  are  like  foreign  wars,  in  one  respect 
at  least,  they  allay  local  asperities  and  partisan  animosities. 


14 

Their  successful  advocates  and  promoters,  like  victorious  gen- 
erals, receive,  as  they  deserve  to  receive,  the  universal  and 
enduring  applause  and  gratitude  of  the  community.  To  ascer- 
tain what  natural  improvements  are  wanted  is,  necessarily,  the 
first  step  to  take.  To  look  at  the  city  as  it  is,  and  to  reflect 
upon  what  it  will  be  in  the  immediate  future.  A  grand  plan  and 
purpose  must  proceed  and  control  details — and  the  first  inquiry 
is,  what  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  great  plan  and  purpose  of  this 
city  ?  The  answer  must  be,  that  it  shall  be  the  Metropolis  of 
the  country,  and  in  reaching  this,  it  must  become  the  com- 
manding, commercial,  and  financial  centre  of  the  civilized 
world.  All  great  nations  have,  through  history,  had  one  and 
but  one  national  capital,  exercising  its  power  and  influence 
over  all  other  localities.  Such  a  capital  is  a  necessary  fea- 
ture in  the  material  fabric  of  a  nation.  This  is  seen  in  the 
homogeneous  and  well-knit  nationalities  of  Europe.  If  we  are 
to  have  a  great  and  united  country,  the  Union  must  be  ce- 
mented and  regulated  from  one  great  centre  or  national  heart. 
How  much  grander,  then,  than  any  other  capital  of  ancient  or 
modern  times,  if  these  precedents  are  to  be  repeated  here, 
must  become  the  Metropolis  of  this  Western  Continent  ?  To 
reach  this  attainment  is  now  a  developing  aspiration  of  the 
citizens,  and  the  highest  duty  of  our  rulers.  The  perception 
of  the  future,  may  now  be  confined  to  a  few  ;  but  let  us  lift  the 
curtain,  and  hold  up  to  the  gaze  of  all  men,  approaching  events, 
and  thus,  by  presenting  in  imagination  the  future,  stimulate 
the  agencies  that  are  to  produce  them. 

PUBLIC  WOKKS  TO  BE  CONSTRUCTED. 

Now,  what  are  the  material  agencies  to  bring  about  this 
magnificent  result,  and  what  must  be  the  condition  of  this 
city,  when  it  occupies  this  proud  position  ?  First,  we  must 
have  perfect  appliances  for  receiving  and  distributing  foreign 
commerce.  This  is  essential  and  indispensable.  In  1857,  in  a 
message  to  the  Common  Council,  I  urged  the  erection  of  stone 
piers  and  wharves,  and  a  better  system  of  harbor  improvements. 
Although  for  ten  years  these  recommendations  met  with  no 
response,  yet  we  have  now  every  indication,  that  under  the  di- 


15 


rection  of  the  Board  constituted  for  that  purpose,  that  this 
esential  and  indispensable  improvement  will  be  accomplished. 

Under  the  auspices  and  by  the  direction  of  the  gentlemen 
whose  influence  governs  our  affairs,  this  Board,  constituted  of 
gentlemen  of  high  intelligence  and  conceded  ability,  a  com- 
prehensive plan  has  been  devised  and  perfected,  which  will 
equal,  if  not  excel,  for  this  purpose  that  of  any  other  city.  The 
power  over  the  whole  subject,  remains  in  this  Board,  with  almost 
unlimited  authority  of  expenditure  and  execution.  Certainly, 
if  corruption  was  the  object  of  our  New-York  authorities,  they 
would  have  retained  control  over  this  vast  sum  required  in  this 
work,  and  not  have  intrusted  it  entirely  and  altogether  to  men 
beyond  suspicion  or  approach.  The  general  plan  is  to  have  a 
granite  front  all  around  the  city,  with  a  magnificent  boulevard, 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide,  with  a  granite  water  drive 
and  projecting  piers.  Lest  the  chronic  Corporation  croakers, 
may  groan  aloud  at  the  vast  sum  required  to  accomplish  this, 
let  me  console  them  with  the  fact  that  Gen.  McClellan,  the 
engineer-in-chief,  estimates  that  the  land  obtained  to  this  city 
by  this  plan,  will  fully  repay  the  entire  cost.  But  even  if  this 
estimate  should  not  be  found  finally  correct,  it  is  nevertheless 
our  duty  not  to  neglect  that  interest  of  all  others,  which  has 
made  our  city  what  it  is — the  commercial  emporium.  If  we 
look  abroad,  we  shall  see  how  much  in  this  respect  has  been 
done  by  other  shipping  ports. 

An  American  who  has  seen  the  harbor  improvements  of 
Liverpool,  London,  or,  indeed,  of  any  considerable  English 
port,  must  look  at  ours  with  humiliation.  Nature  has  done 
everything  for  our  harbor — man  nothing.  Docks,  piers,  and 
wharves  have  been  in  process  of  construction  in  Liverpool  for 
forty  years,  and  great  as  has  been  the  expenditure  in  the  past, 
and  indefinite  in  extent  as  these  docks  appear,  there  is  ex- 
pended over  two  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars  upon  them 
annually.  The  dock  improvements  at  Liverpool,  as  in  Lon- 
don, have  cost  over  sixty  millions  of  dollars  in  each  city. 
They  have  not  added  a  penny  to  the  taxes  of  these  cities. 
On  the  contrary,  they  are  in  London,  taxable  property.  So 
it  should  be  here.  Commerce  readily  pays  for  the  facilities 
which  such  improvements  afford  to  it.    It  is  not  the  charges 


16 


on  a  vessel  entering  a  port,  that  restrains  trade,  so  much  as  the 
expenses  attending  the  want  of  facilities  for  loading  and  un- 
loading cargoes.  Delay  costs  more  than  reasonable  charges, 
for  the  facilities  of  doing  the  business  of  commerce.  The  port 
charges  at  Liverpool  are,  I  believe,  some  three  times  as  much 
as  they  are  here,  and  yet  it  is  a  cheaper  port  for  ships  to  enter 
than  this. 

Let  us  invite  and  attract  the  commerce  of  the  world  to  our 
harbor,  by  removing  every  impediment,  and  affording  the  most 
improved  facilities  for  the  transaction  of  an  unrestricted  and 
untrammeled  trade.  The  delay  attending  the  present  wretched 
condition  of  our  wharves  and  piers,  is  a  tax  of  an  enormous- 
character.  Let  us  be  up  to  the  spirit  of  the  age.  which  regards 
economy  of  time  of  greater  value  and  to  be  estimated  higher 
than  the  mere  economy  of  money. 

The  next  requirement  is  a  perfect  means  of  communication 
with  the  interior  of  the  country.  As  compared  with  either 
Liverpool,  London,  or  Paris,  there  are  great  works  to  be  con- 
structed here,  in  order  to  complete  the  connection  of  the  city 
with  the  country.  Here,  it  is  true,  is  the  open  highway  of  the 
Hudson  to  the  interior,  which  the  cities  I  have  mentioned  lack. 
But  railroads  are  more  and  more  controlling  the  internal  com- 
merce of  all  countries,  and  this  city  is  wofully  deficient  in 
railroad  facilities.  Conveyance  by  steam  is  a  necessary  means 
to  reach  the  country  and  for  the  country  to  reach  the  city,  and 
it  is  also  of  great  importance  to  the  city,  in  its  internal  econ- 
omy, if  practically  and  properly  controlled.  The  city  railroads 
convey  about  120,000,000  of  passengers  annually.  This  would 
give  a  daily  average  for  each  day  of  the  year  of  300,000  per- 
sons carried.  The  annual  increase  of  travel  is  very  great,  and 
is  yearly  increasing.  During  the  last  five  years,  it  has  been 
at  the  rate  of  about  10  per  cent,  per  annum  in  the  increase. 
The  whole  distance  traveled  would  be  over  700,000  miles  per 
day.  The  passenger  business  on  the  city  roads  of  about  100 
miles  in  length,  is  more  than  twice  that  of  the  Harlem  River 
Railroad,  and  is  equal  to  the  passenger  mileage  of  the  New- 
York  Central  Railroad  in  its  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  oper- 
ated by  steam.  The  difference  in  the  time  now  occupied  by 
people  going  and  returning  daily  to  business,  if  more  Rapid 


17 

Transit  facilities  were  furnished,  would  afford  ten  hours  per 
day  of  productive  labor,  to  ten  thousand  persons  for  eveiy 
working  day,  now  lost  by  the  present  slow  passenger  convey- 
ance of  the  horse  car.  The  grand  period  of  the  city's  advance- 
ment in  wealth  and  population  must  commence  with  {he  intro- 
duction of  a  more  rapid  system  of  conveyance;  the  whole 
Island  will  then  be  speedily  populated.  As  the  Central  Park 
is  now  in  its  chrysalis  state  the  single  object  of  pride  and  in- 
terest to  all  the  citizens,  so  shad  this  Metropolis  then  become 
an  object  of  national  pride,  just  as  Paris  has  been  the  pride 
of  all  France,  and  as  Rome  was  the  glory  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire of  the  Caesars.  What  has  he  done  to  adorn  the  national 
capital?  was  the  inquiry  of  the  Romans  before  awarding 
honors  to  her  illustrious  citizens.  The  Emperor  of  France 
raised  splendid  monuments  of  his  reign  in  the  improvements 
of  Pois;  London  is  being  transformed  by  new  constructions; 
and  here  is  our  work  t)  raise  the  structure  of  a  national  me- 
tro po!  is. 

The  Viaduct  Railway  is  a  certain  success — it  is  already  an 
accomplished  fact.  This  plan  is  no  experiment — it  has  long 
been  in  existence  in  Europe.  Man}7  railways  enter  the  cities 
of  Europe  on  a  viaduct.  So  assured  are  men  of  wealth  of  its 
success,  the  five  million  city  bonds  authorized  to  be  assumed 
by  the  Act,  is  offered  to  be  taken  at  a  premium  of  six  per 
centum,  over  par.  Its  financial  success,  secures  its  speedy 
completion.  From  my  knowledge  of  the  men  interested,  I  am 
confident  that  in  two  or  three  years,  we  shall  enjoy  it  as  a 
means  of  transit  which  will  effect  marvelous  changes  in  the 
business  and  residential  circles  of  the  city.  As  great  as  have 
been  the  changes  in  New- York  within  the  past  ten  years,  they 
will  be  nothing  as  compared  to  that  which  will  be  produced 
by  this  railway  in  the  future,  and  the  West  Side  will  be  the 
chief  section,  benefited.  In  my  opinion,  it-;  effect  will  be  great- 
er than  anything  else  which  can  be  contemplated. 

The  next  great  requisite  is  the  ornamentation  of  the  city, 
and  this  duty  devolves  more  directly  upon  the  Board  of  Pub- 
lic Parks.  Tnis  Board  is  intrusted  by  law  with  the  entire 
power. 

Have  we  any  reason  to  distrust  its  intelligence  or  integrity  ? 


18 

I  think  not.  Certainly,  a  vast  deal  has  been  accomplished  since  • 
the  present  Commissioners  have  had  control.  The  active  and 
energetic  prosecution  of  all  great  works  of  beauty  and  utility, 
already  projected,  especially  for  the  West  Side,  is  demanded 
by  every  consideration  of  public  duty  and  city  pride.  The 
growth  of  tli is  city  in  its  population,  public  works,  and  gen- 
eral development,  necessarily  lies  very  much  in  its  westerly 
side,  above  Fifty -ninth  street.  At  least  one-half  of  its  popu- 
lation, and  that  the  better  half,  must  find  its  habitation 
there.  It  is  there,  therefore,  that  the  skill,  genius  and  com- 
prehensive minds  of  those  who  are  intrusted  with  the  privi- 
ege,  must  exert  their  best  efforts  in  preparing  that  section 
for  those  who  are  to  enjoy  it  hereafter. 

WHAT  IS  BEING  ACCOMPLISHED. 

Within  a  year,  or  a  Little  more,  remarkable  changes  have 
been  made  in  the  city  parks,  from  the  Battery  northward. 
Two  years  ago  every  park,  except  the  Central,  was  little  better 
than  a  nuisance,  not  one  of  them  fit  for  public  enjoyment,  or; 
indeed,  for  the  temporary  sojourn  of  a  wayworn  traveler. 
How  different  now.  Go  to  the  Battery,  and  see  the  difference. 
This  is  the  first  of  New-York  that  the  stranger  on  arrival  wit- 
nesses. From  this  he  gathers  his  first  opinion.  And  as  now 
seen,  he  may  draw  from  it  a  fair  and  truthful  picture  of  the 
elevation  and  refinement  of  our  citizens.  And  so  with  the 
City  Hall  Park  and  the  others.  A  change  has  come  over  them 
which  renders  them  objects  of  beauty  and  cit}'  pride,  instead 
of  the  repulsive  recepticles  of  vice  and  filth  which  they  were 
under  former  administrations.  And  permit  me  to  remark,  in 
passing — that  it  is  not  wise  for  the  West  Side  Association,  or 
those  who  are  interested  in  real  estate  on  the  West  Side,  to 
indulge  in  a  captious  spirit  in  judging  of  the  official  conduct 
of  this  Board. 

We  should  be  discriminating  and  fair  in  our  criticisms,  do- 
ing entire  justice,  giving  praise  where  it  is  deserved,  and  cen- 
suring only  after  a  full  understanding  and  appreciation  of  the 
facts.  It  is  unwise  to  fall  into  the  common  habit  of  abusing 
our  city  officials.    Public  officials,  finding  themselves  contin- 


19 


ually  held  up  to  odium,  soou  become  indifferent  aud  quite 
discouraged  in  attempting  to  do  right.  Let  us  give  our  present 
city  officers  full  trial  before  we  condemn  them.  We  have  just 
now,  not  only  a  new  form  of  government,  but  we  have  new 
officers  to  conduct  it,  and  the  side  of  the  city  this  Association 
represents  is  especially  interested.  From  Fifty-ninth  street, 
west  of  the  park  upward,  much  is  yet  to  be  done,  by  those  in- 
trusted with  its  improvement.  The  great  public  works,  parks, 
boulevards,  avenues,  gardens  and  squares  being  contemplated, 
and  in  the  course  of  construction,  must  be  prosecuted  and 
finished  under  the  guidance  and  direction  of  the  Park  Com- 
missioners ;  and  I  am  sure  it  is  our  duty,  as  well  as  our  inter- 
est, to  encourage  and  uphold  their  labors,  rather  than  dis- 
courage them,  by  a  churlish  spirit  of  fault-finding,  and  a  wap- 
ish,  hasty  criticism. 

In  this  opinion  of  our  duty,  I  am  not  to  be  understood  as 
fully  justifying  the  apparent  unnecessary  delay  in  the  ener- 
getic prosecution  of  some  of  the  improvements  on  our  side  of 
the  park. 

The  principal  element  of  value  in  this  country  is  time.  Time 
is  money.  The  prevailing  high  rate  of  interest,  accumulates 
the  cost  of  holding  real  estate  with  great  celerity.  This  is 
especially  hard  upon  unimproved  property,  which  has  to  bear 
not  only  this  addition  of  the  interest  on  the  cost,  but  also 
other  severe  burdens,  by  the  expense  of  contiguous  city  im- 
provements, and  when  there  is  no  income  from  it,  soon  amounts 
to  an  enormous  aggregate.  We  have  suffered  severely  on  the 
West  Side  from  these  causes.  The  first  act  passed  by  the 
Legislature  for  the  new  drive,  or  Grand  Boulevard,  was  in 
April,  1865,  more  than  six  years  ago.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  Legislative  action  for  the  improvement  of  the  West  Side. 
From  that  time  until  the  present,  we  have  stood  still.  The 
Boulevard  itself  is  yet  unfinished.  Our  property  joining  to 
and  depending  upon  it  as  the  main  artery,  has  been  rendered 
unproductive,  because  unimproved.  We  have  been  sorely 
taxed.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  taxes  and  as- 
sessments upon  Boulevard  lots,  and  those  in  proximity  to  it, 
have  amounted  to  over  two  hundred  per  cent,  over  their  value 
in  1864.    I  may  be  assured  that  they  have  increased  in  value 


20 


to  tliis  extent.  This  may  be  so,  but  certainly  there  can  be  no 
excuse  for  the  imposition  of  that  kind  of  tax,  which  is  com- 
prised in  the  loss  of  the  interest  taken  up  by  the  unnecessary 
delay  of  officials,  in  the  performance  of  their  duties. 

The  cost  of  these  improvements  is  enough,  in  all  conscience, 
without  adding  the  additional  burdens  imposed  by  delay. 
The  Riverside  Park  is  another  great  work,  which,  when  com- 
pleted, will  be  one  of  the  principal  ornaments  of  the  Metropolis. 
But  it  will  require  prompt  action  and  much  energy,  to  prevent 
a  similar  hardship  befalling  those  who  are  to  be  benefited  by 
it.  I  am  in  favor  of  speaking  plainly  on  these  subjects,  and 
while  willing  to  sustain  and  support  those  who  are  intrusted 
with  these  duties,  have  a  right  to  ask  that  the  work  they  have 
undertaken,  shall  be  done  forthwith  or  be  abandoned  altogether. 
I  do  not  think  there  is  any  intention  of  abandoning  it.  I  have 
assurances  that  there  is  none,  and  hence  we  have  a  right  to 
request  prompt  attention  to  its  immediate  completion.  Nor 
have  we  any  reason  to  apprehend  unnecessary  delay  in  the 
prosecution  of  this  great  work.  I  am  told  it  will  be  pushed 
on  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  that  in  a  year  or  two  we  shall 
begin  to  enjoy  its  great  blessings. 

TAXATION. 

Another  consideration  is  that  of  taxation,  and  its  proper 
adjustment.  This  subject  has  been  a  sore  grievance  in  the 
past.  New- York  has  suffered  deeply  by  severe  burdens  of 
this  character,  to  which  has  been  superadded  defective  admin- 
istration. I  have  always  looked  upon  the  origin  of  this  evil 
as  to  be  found  in  the  ever  changing  and  never  improving 
legislation  by  the  State.  Within  my  day  we  have  had  a  dozen 
different  kinds  of  city  government.  Ic  is  not  necessary  to  enu- 
merate and  specify  them.  All  of  them  have  been  in  the  in- 
terest of  those  who  made  them,  and  not  in  the  interest  of  the 
people.  We  have  had  decentralization  of  power,  and  no  re- 
sponsibility or  accountability  anywhere. 

We  have  had  eight  or  nine  separate  and  independent  execu- 
tive authorities  exercising  their  prerogatives,  each  independent 
of  the  other,  and  all  harassing  and  oppressive  to  the  citizen. 


•21 


One  board  has  done  this,  and  another  that,  each  expending 
money  just  as  it  pleased,  irresponsible  to  any  superior  power, 
and  each  discharging  its  duties,  independent  of  any  supreme 
authority7.  Now  this  was  disorganization  —  official  anarchy,  so 
to  speak — no  government  at  all — the  very  absence  of  govern- 
ment ;  and  from  this  condition  of  things  have  sprung  many  of 
the  evils  of  which  we  have  complained. 

I  would  concentrate  the  power  of  the  municipal  government, 
and  I  wrould  make  that  power  responsible  to  the  people,  not 
to  the  Legislature  ;  and  I  would  make  that  authority  sufficiently 
strong  for  the  exercise  of  all  the  official  jurisdiction  of  which  it 
has  cognizance.  I  approve  fully  of  the  recent  legislation  for 
this  city,  and  especially  of  that  principle  of  governing  New- 
York  without  the  influence  of  the  Legislature.  To  obtain 
good  local  government,  wTe  must  cease  to  be  the  appendage  of 
the  State  Legislature.  Our  right  to  a  municipal  government 
of  our  own,  dates  back  prior  to  the  American  Revolution  ;  it 
is  anterior  to  the  existence  of  the  State  itself. 

And  with  this  change  we  have  a  right  to  expect  a  material 
reduction  of  expenditure.  Concentration  of  authority  will 
produce  a  lively  sense  of  responsibility.  Certainly  a  limitation 
of  the  disbursements,  as  provided  for  by  recent  legislation, 
can  work  no  harm.  Its  first  effects,  are  already  seen  in  the 
reduced  estimates  of  the  Board  of  Apportionment.  The  sum 
asked  for  by  the  several  Bureaus  for  City  and  County  for 
the  year  1871  is  $35,773,674.62,  which  has  been  reduced  by 
the  Board  to  about  $20,000,000.  Thus  we  have  a  reduction  of 
nearly  one-half.  Certainly  this  is  a  remarkable  fact,  which 
should  go  very  far  to  warrant  a  confident  belief  that  a  new- 
system  has  been  inaugurated  which  will  redound  not  only  to 
the  interest  of  the  people,  but  to  the  credit  of  the  men 
who  conceived  it  and  are  carrying  it  out. 

When  I  was  Mayor,  ten  years  ago,  the  whole  expenses  of 
the  city  were  only  about  nine  million  dollars  ;  now7  we  pay  to 
the  State  about  seven  million  State  tax  alone.  We  are  not 
treated  fairy  by  the  State.  The  State  Assessors  are  taken, 
two  from  the  country,  one  from  the  city.  The  effect  of  this 
is  that  the  city  being  in  a  minority,  our  valuation  is  in- 
creased, while  that  for  the  rest  of  the  State  is  decreased 


22 


Thus  we  are  made  to  pay  forty-seven  per  cent.,  or  nearly  one- 
half  of  the  entire  expenses  of  the  whole  State,  in  addition  to 
our  own  heavy  burdens.  If  justice  was  done  us  by  an  equali- 
zation of  taxes,  this  city  would  save  at  least  two  millions  a  year. 
And  also,  with  reference  to  public  education,  while  we  bear  the 
whole  burden  of  our  public  schools,  educating  children  from 
all  parts  of  the  State,  we  are  compelled,  under  existing  laws, 
to  pay  largely  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools  of  the 
State,  altogether  outside  of  the  city.  In  estimating  the  cost 
of  our  corporation,  we  do  not  always  take  these  important  items 
into  consideration,  which  go  very  far  toward  making  up  the 
apparent  enormous  aggregate  of  city  expenses. 

FALSE  ESTIMATE  OF  NEW-YORK. 

But  let  us  look  at  our  city,  as  it  is,  with  all  the  faults  of 
which  we  complain. 

I  doubt  whether  Americans,  and  especially  New-Yorkers, 
appreciate  New- York.  As  a  common  thing,  we  are  apt  to  un- 
derate  our  advantages,  and  to  exaggerate  our  disadvantages. 
If  we  have  traveled  abroad  and  witnessed  the  apparent  good 
government  of  the  leading  cities  of  Europe,  and  have  seen  and 
enjoyed  their  beauties,  we  are  too  fond  of  making  unfavorable 
comparisons  to  the  disparagement  of  this  city.  It  is  common  to 
hear  Americans  who  have  lived  abroad,  abuse  their  own  home. 
I  think  much  injustice  is  done  to  ourselves  by  this  false  esti- 
mate. It  should  be  remembered  that  Americans,  when  abroad, 
are  but  travelers  in  transitu  at  best,  and  do  not  obtain  the 
kind  of  knowledge  of  municipal  regulations  of  the  cities  they 
visit,  which  enable  them  to  form  a  reliable  opinion.  They  see 
but  the  exterior,  and  but  the  best  portions  of  that.  They  pay 
no  taxes  ;  they  are  unacquainted  with  the  local  regulations  ; 
they  generally  reside  in  first-class  hotels,  and  are  really  the  re- 
cipients of  all  that  is  comfortable,  delightful,  and  pleasant,  for 
which  they  are  willing  to  pay,  and  do  pay,  liberally  and  cheer- 
ully.  They  observe  that  the  streets  are  clean ;  the  avenues  and 
boulevard  they  visit  are  broad,  bright  and  inviting  ;  the  parks 
with  fine  drives  and  scenery ;  the  cafes  or  restaurants  amply 
supplied  with  the  richest  viands,  at  a  less  price  than  here  ;  the 


23 


police  or  gendarmes  vigilant ;  the  hacks  or  cabs  well  conducted, 
and  that,  apparently,  general  order,  peace,  protection  and  secur- 
ity prevail,  throughout.  And,  while  enjoying  all  this,  their  own 
physical  condition  is  good.  They  are  freed  from  the  cares  of 
business,  have  no  pressing  duties  to  perform,  all  around  them 
takes  color  from  themselves,  and  assumes  a  more  cheerful,  en- 
ticing and  pleasurable  aspect  than  the  very  same  things  would, 
were  they  seen  or  experienced  under  opposite  circumstances. 
And  with  these  impressions  they  return  to  New- York.  On 
arrival  they  are  greeted  with  crowds  and  rough  voices,  and 
on  landing,  a  busy,  impolite  and  importunate  drumming  of 
rude  hackmen  annoys  them,  until  they  are  rolled  to  their 
homes  over  uneven  pavement,  through  unsightly  and  inodor- 
ous streets.  It  may  be  that  the  temper  which  these  un- 
pleasant municipal  peculiarities  stimulate,  is  made  more 
sour  by  the  surveilance  of  Custom-House  officers,  who  re- 
ceive every  passenger  from  ship-board  as  an  escaped  fugi- 
tive from  an  European  prison,  who  has  come  to  this  couu- 
try  not  only  to  flee  from  justice  there,  but  to  perpetrate  frauds 
upon  the  government  here  by  smuggling,  perjury  and  forgery. 
And  so  our  returned  American  stalks  abroad  among  his 
friends  on  the  morrow,  telling  in  glowing  language  of  the  su- 
periority of  everything  worth  living  for  in  Paris  or  London, 
Vienna,  Berlin,  or  Brussels;  talks  of  our  dirty  heavily-taxed 
and  horrid  New-York.  For  myself,  before  I  had  been  to 
Europe,  I  had  conceived  the  idea  that  much  of  this  was  true. 
I  had  had  some  experience  here  as  Mayor,  and  knew  quite 
well  of  our  defects  ;  and  having  heard  so  much  in  praise  of 
the  cities  referred  to,  I  was  quite  willing  to  accept,  in  advance, 
most  of  it  as  true.  I  was,  therefore,  quite  prepossessed  in  ad- 
vance in  favor  of  the  municipal  government,  and  regulations 
of  European  cities,  over  any  in  the  United  States.  I  have  al- 
tered this  opinion.  I  do  not  think  so  now.  Let  us  take  Paris 
for  example,  as  I  saw  her  in  1865,  1867  and  1869,  in  the  hey- 
day of  her  glory,  and  under  the  rule  of  imperial  power  in  the 
hands  of  a  man  who  believed  that  Paris  was  France,  and  that 
an  enduring  monument  to  his  greatness  was  to  be  erected 
in  its  splendor  and  grandeur.  With  unlimited  moneyed 
resources — high  order  of  architectural  talents  to  devise — 


24 


uncontroled  power  to  alter,  regulate  and  improve,  and  no 
responsibiliy  for  his  acts,  Napoleon,  the  sole  governing  au- 
thority, possessed  the  entire  municipal  rule  over  the  City  of 
Pai  is  for  over  twenty  years.  And  what  was  produced ?  An 
elegant,  well  governed  capital,  I  concede.  Its  monuments,  its 
boulevards — its  gardens,  statues,  fountains  and  drives — the 
brilliancy  of  its  shops,  and  the  unequaled  splendor  of  its  se- 
ductive amusements,  all  combined  to  make  it  to  the  man  of 
luxury  and  wealth,  almost  a  paradise,  but  also  almost  too  en- 
ticing for  his  own  moral  security.  But  this  is  all.  Paris  is 
very  far  behind  New-York  in  the  essentials  of  life.  Take  its 
drinkirg  water  for  instance.  It  is  impure,  unhealthy,  and  ex- 
pensive, being  brought  from  a  shallow,  dirty  little  river,  into 
which  the  sewerage  enters,  and  sold  in  buckets.  No  hydraulic 
works  have  been  constructed  by  which  a  supply  like  our  Croton 
is  furnished  and  distributed  throughout  the  dwellings  as  here. 
But  few  houses  have  any  facilities  of  this  kind  whatever,  and 
none  of  them  had  any  until  Americans  from  this  city  intro- 
duced them.  Thus  is  Paris  not  only  behind  us  in  this  neces- 
sary element  of  human  life  and  existence,  but  also  in  the 
means  of  preserving  health  by  cleanliness  as  well.  The  dwell- 
ings are  not  lighted  by  gas,  are  built  of  stone  which  retains 
moisture,  and  are  always  damp,  not  property  ventilated,  nor  fur- 
nished with  elevators,  though  as  a  general  thing,  from  four  to 
seven  stories  high.  The  rooms  are  small,  sometimes  incon- 
veniently so ;  no  private  gardens  attached,  except  to  the 
palaces,  which,  as  a  general  thing,  have  large  and  extensive 
grounds,  and,  so  far  as  their  domestic  arrangement  for  com- 
fort is  concerned,  the  homes  of  the  middle  and  poorer 
classes  are  without  them  altogether.  The  effect  of  this  is 
found  in  the  absence  of  homes,  as  such,  among  all  classes. 
The  people  live  elsewheie  than  at  home.  There  are  few  or  no- 
family  circles  where  parents  and  children  are  content  with 
the  quiet  enjoyment  of  each  others  society.  The  cafe,  the 
garden,  the  drive  and  the  public  resorts,  constitute  the  do- 
mestic life  of  Paris.  It  is  to  be  found  there,  and  never  at 
home.  May  we  not  trace  to  this  fact  the  turbulent  character 
of  this  remarkable  people?  Paris  has  no  public  school  sys- 
tem such  as  ours,  and  one-fourth  of  the  people  cannot  read 
nor  write. 


25 


It  is  true  we  have  not  the  dazzling  attractions  that  Paris 
had  a  twelvemonth  since,  nor  of  many  other  European  capi- 
tals at  this  time.  They  all  have  fine  -public  buildings  and 
monuments;  but  let  New-York  remember  that  in  Em  ope 
these  have  been  erected  altogether  by  the  supreme  Govern- 
ment. Here  the  supreme  Government  has  done  none  of  this. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  done  nothing  to 
adorn  this,  its  greatest  and  principal  city.  Indeed  it  has  not 
even  erected  buildings  for  its  own  use.  It  has  not  one  pub- 
lic edifice  which  is  not  a  disgrace — a  disgrace  to  its  own  credit, 
and  a  shame  to  the  city  itself.  Instead  of  aiding  by  proper 
adornment  the  commercial  emporium  of  the  country  from 
which  it  derives  three-fourths  of  its  revenues,  it  is  too  parsi- 
monious to  expend  the  few  million  dollars  which  are  required 
to  furnish  the  necessary  offices  in  which  to  transact  its  own 
business.  It  has  not  here  a  building  of  its  own  which  would 
not  disgrace  the  county  seat  of  Western  Territory.  No,  let 
us  be  just  to  ourselves.  In  no  solid  regard  are  we  behind  any 
European  capital.  No  other  city  can  boast  of  such  natural 
beauty,  nor  a  native  population  who,  in  the  aggregate,  are  so 
intelligent,  benevolent,  law-abiding,  patriotic,  energetic,  pro- 
gressive, educated  and  refined.  The  city,  whatever  it  is,  is 
altogether  of  our  own  creation.  We  have  had  no  gifts  of 
royal  munificence  to  adoru — no  national  exchequer  to  draw 
upon — no  lordly  proprietors  to  improve,  and  no  artificial  sup- 
port to  foster  and  cherish.  Our  trade,  our  wealth,  our  great 
public  works,  our  unequaJed  system  of  education,  our  unexam- 
pled prosperity,  our  private  and  corporate  charity,  and  in 
short,  this  great  Metropolis,  is  the  work  of  our  own  unaided 
hands — the  product  of  our  own  individual  industry,  intelli- 
gence and  enterprise. 

WEST  SIDE. 

I  come  now  to  consider  all  this  in  its  relations  to  the  West 
Side — that  part  of  the  city  in  which  wre  are  more  immediately 
interested,  and  for  the  protection  of  which  this  Association 
was  formed.  I  doubt  whether  we  have  maturely  considered 
the  advantages  which  this  section  of  the  city  possesses.    It  is, 


26 


in  my  judgment,  quite  certain  that  but  few  of  our  capitalists 
have  sufficiently  reflected  upon  the  substantial  differences  that 
exist  between  different  sides  of  the  Island.  Hurried  on,  as  we 
are,  by  fashion  or  by  speculation — by  excitement  and  circum- 
stances— we  are  rarely  governed  in  matters  of  the  gravest  con- 
cern, by  that  kind  of  thought  which  should  govern  us  in  so  im- 
portant a  matter  as  the  investment  of  money. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  this  side  of  the  Central  Park  is 
very  rocky,  and  that  hence  the  expense  of  building  is  en- 
hanced. How  little  importance  should  be  attached  to  such  an 
objection  may  be  judged  of  from  the  fact  that  the  entire  centre 
of  the  Island,  from  Fourteenth  street  upward,  is  of  the  same 
character,  and  it  has  not  retarded  for  a  day  the  onward  pro- 
gress of  the  city  in  this  direction.  Indeed,  such  an  objection 
is  too  trifling  to  receive  even  a  word  of  reply. 

We  have  physical  difficulties  to  encounter,  so  have  we  phys- 
ical advantages  to  aid  us.  Nature  may  have  anchored  our 
side  upon  a  bed  difficult  to  penetrate  and  remove,  but  so  lists 
she  adorned  it  with  surrounding  beauties,  which  compensate 
for  them  amply.  I  often  hear  it  said  by  the  objectors  to  great 
enterprises  on  this  Island,  that  the  rocky  obstructions  are  iu 
the  way.  I  heard  this  remark  made  as  an  objection  to  the  es- 
tablishing of  the  Central  Park  at  its  present  site,  when  it  was 
first  projected,  and  listened  to  the  eloquent  reply  of  Edward 
Everett,  who,  in  a  few  happy  chosen  phrases,  showed  that 
this  fact,  of  itself,  was  one  of  the  chief  reasons  why  the  Pai  k 
should  be  placed  on  the  spot  referred  to.  The  same  may  be 
said  with  greater  force  in  looking  at  that  part  of  the  Island 
lying  west  of  the  park,  in  considering  it  for  residential  pur- 
poses in  connection  with  its  attendant  natural  beauties.  East 
of  the  Park  was  in  its  natural  condition,  low  and  marshy,  and 
as  a  consequence  miasmatic.  When  pestilence  came,  as  it  fre- 
quently did  in  the  last  century  and  in  the  early  part  of  this 
€entury,  it  was  to  the  westerly  side  of  the  city  to  which  the 
people  mostly  fled,  not  to  the  east.  I  recollect  the  yellow  fever 
of  1822  and  the  cholera  of  1832.  The  then  populated  portions 
of  New-York  were  fenced  in  at  the  outer  boundaries  about 
Houston  street,  and  above  that,  between  the  Hudson  river 
iind  the  Bloomingdaie  road,  now  Broadway,  was  to  be  found 


most  of  the  people  left  upon  the  Island.  It  is  a  suggestive 
fact  that  in  every  large  city  of  the  world,  the  westerly  portions 
command  the  highest  values,  and  are  the  most  desired  by  the 
opulent  classes  for  residence.  Who  has  not  heard  of  the 
West  End  of  London,  the  Champs  Elysee  and  Boulevard 
l'Emperatrice  and  neighboring  streets  of  Paris.  In  Vienna, 
Brussels,  St.  Petersburgh,  Madrid,  Florence  and  the  other 
principal  cities  of  Europe,  the  same  partiality  for  the  West 
Side  prevails.  There  must  be  some  reason  for  this.  What 
ever  it  may  be,  it  is  quite  certain  that  in  neither  of  the 
•cities  referred  to,  is  there  such  an  attraction  on  their  westerly 
sides  as  the  beautiful  and  majestic  Hudson.  Indeed  in  no 
part  of  Europe  can  the  superior  of  that  noble  stream  be  found. 
Ever  bright — ever  moving — ever  salubrious  and  ever  captivat- 
ing, it  rolls  onward  to  the  sea  in  placid  mockery  of  the  toiling, 
struggling  masses,  who,  unmindful  of  its  beauty,  also  pass  on 
to  another  ocean,  that  of  eternity  with  fruitless  struggles, 
strife  and  controversy. 

It  is  between  these  two  prominent  boundaries,  the  Hudson 
and  the  Park,  that  the  West  Side  of  the  city  is  to  be  founded. 
It  is  upon  this  narrow  strip,  bounded  easterly  by  the  Park, 
westerly  by  the  river,  southerly  by  Fifty-ninth  street,  ami 
northerly  by  Spuyten  Duyvil,  that  lies  the  most  valuable 
part  of  this  great  city.  It  is  here  that  nature  has  bestowed 
its  chieftest  handiwork,  and  that  man,  with  but  little  effort  in 
the  wa}r  of  adornment  to  that  which  the  mother  of  us  all 
originally  created,  shall  establish  what  will  be  known  hereafter 
as  the  most  healthy,  the  most  enchanting  and  most  desirable 
section  of  this  emporium.  Let  the  doubter  of  this  just  esti- 
mate of  this  part  of  the  city  listen  to  me,  and  I  will  explain 
to  him  my  reasons  for  this  opinion.  They  may  be  stated  thus  : 
The  West  Side  is  the  most  desirable  for  health,  comfort, 
beauty,  accessibility  to  business  and  prospective  value  of  pro- 
perty, for  the  following  reasons  : 

First.  Being  on  the  direct  line  with  the  currents  of  ocean 
air,  forcing  itself  by  the  city  into  the  interior  through  the 
channel  of  the  Hudson,  it  receives  the  effects,  pure  and  simple, 
of  that  invigorating  atmosphere. 


28 


Second.  The  rapid  declining  grade  from  the  Central  Park 
^0  the  river  gives  an  impetus  to  the  drainage,  which  will  ena- 
ble it  to  carry  off  more  speedily,  anything  of  an  unhealthy 
character  collecting  in  the  sewers.  In  this  regard,  it  has  the 
advantage  of  the  east  side. 

Third.  The  land  is  high  and  undulating.  These  are  con- 
sidered indispensable  to  health  and  comfort. 

Fourth.  It  is  shielded  from  the  easterly  and  northeasterly 
winds  prevailing  in  the  Fall,  which  are  deemed  detrimental  to 
both  health  and  comfort. 

Fifth.  It  has  the  advantage  of  being  a  narrow  belt  of  land 
lying  between  the  Central  Park  and  the  Hudson  River,  with 
more  beauties  of  nature  and  art,  in  closer  proximity,  than  to 
be  found  elsewhere.  It  will  have  the  Zoological  Garden  and 
National  Gallery  of  Art,  the  Observatory,  the  Rivpr  Side  and 
Morning  Side  Parks,  the  commanding  cliffs  o'eihanging  the 
Hudson,  and  with  many  prominent  position^  horn  which  can 
be  seen  at  the  same  view,  the  Ocean,  the  Narrows,  Long  Is- 
land Sound  and  Tappan  Sea,  up  the  Hudson. 

Sixth.  It  is  in  direct  line  with  the  city's  leading  main  thor- 
oughfare, Broadway,  where  values  have  more  constantly 
maintained  themselves  than  in  any  other  street  or  avenue  of 
the  city,  and  must  receive  the  advantages  of  this  connection, 
in  a  business  regard,  just  as  certain  as  that  population  must 
force  itself  upward. 

Seventh.  It  will  have  the  advantage  of  small  blocks  of 
ground.  The  Grand  Boulevard  will  run  through  the  avenues 
and  divide  them,  making  a  series  of  open  squares  at  frequent 
points,  thus  creating  many  prominent  business  centers  like 
Union  Square,  Madison  Square,  Sixth  Avenue  and  Broadway 
Square,  &c.  These  will  be  continued  all  the  way  up  from  the 
Circle  to  Manhattan ville,  and  then  onward  to  Kings  Bridge. 
The  frequency  of  these  spots,  together  with  the  numerous 
parks,  boulevards,  drives,  statues,  monuments,  natural  scenery, 


29 


river  and  landscape,  will  make  a  grand  total  of  attractions 
which  will  command  the  best  class  of  population,  and  hold  it 
continuously  thereafter. 

Eigldh.  It  will  have  the  Riverside  Park,  which  within  itself 
will  be  an  object  of  unequaled  attraction,  possessing  natural 
scenery,  highly  ornamented,  with  the  noble  Hudson  River 
views  as  a  boundary. 

In  point  of  scenic  beauty,  extensive  views  and  rural  archi- 
tecture, when  finished,  this  park  will  excel  any  other  in  the 
world. 

Ninth.  It  will  have  the  only  great  Boulevards  in  the  city, 
the  chief  among  which  will  be  the  Grand  Boulevard,  extending 
already  five  miles  in  length,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  wide, 
ornamented  with  extensive  center  plots,  and  receiving  at  the 
circle  the  immense  volume  of  business  and  travel,  as  it  will 
empty  itself  from  the  newly  widened  Broadway  below. 

Tenth.  It  has  the  advantage  of  having  not  been  populated 
or  settled  before  these  grand  improvements  were  projected. 
Tims  its  residential  character  remains  undetermined. 

No  neighborhood,  of  an  objectionable  kind,  has  become 
permanently  fixed,  giving  established  character  to  the  vicinity. 
This  leaves  the  entire  West  Side  open  for  the  reception  of  the 
best  residences  and  the  occupation  of  the  more  wealthy  class 
of  people. 

In  thus  classifying  and  enumerating  the  chief  advantages 
of  the  West  Side,  I  have  been  fair  and  impartial.  Of  course, 
much  depends  upon  the  officials  entrusted  with  the  duty,  and 
much  also  depends  upon  the  West  Side  Association.  We 
must  uphold  the  arm  of  the  officers  upon  whom  so  much  will 
depend.  Let  us  aid,  then,  in  the  work,  by  a  hearty  co-opera- 
tion and  an  intelligent  appreciation,  condemning  or  praising 
only  when  deserved.  In  this  spirit  we  can  be  of  invaluable 
service  to  ourselves  and  of  lasting  benefit  to  the  millions  to 
come  after  us,  who  are  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  our  labors,  and 
the  results  of  our  industry  and  public  spirited  intelligence. 


30 


Upon  the  subject  of  the  Assessment  of  Taxes  and  the  Ex- 
emption of  Bonds  and  Moetgages  from  Taxation,  the  Hon. 
H.  C.  Tax  Vorst,  then  spoke  as  follows  : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  : 

There  is  no  subject  to  the  consideration  of  which  the  "West 
Side  Association  can  more  properly  direct  its  attention  than 
that  of  taxation  and  the  principles  of  its  assessment.  Eight- 
een hundred  years  ago  it  was  written  "  that  there  went  out  a 
decree  from  Caesar  Augustus  that  all  the  world  should  be  tax- 
ed, and  all  went  to  be  taxed,"  and  the  tide  has  flowed  in  that 
direction  ever  since.  Not  only  Kings  and  Emperors,  but  free 
States  have  since  then,  as  before  that  time,  imposed — and  the 
people  have  more  or  less  willingly  endured — these,  to  a  certain 
extent,  necessary  exactions.  This  is  a  matter  in  which  you, 
as  property  owners,  and  as  holders  of  real  estate  in  a  part  of 
the  City  now  being  rapidly  developed,  have  a  great  concern  ; 
and  more  especially  as  this  real  estate  is  constantly  increasing 
in  value,  and  liable  to  become  the  subject  of  large  assessments., 
and  burdens  in  the  way  of  taxation.  In  a  free  country,  where, 
in  theory,  the  people  themselves  create  the  burdens  which  be- 
come the  subjects  of  taxation,  and  also  determine  the  manner 
of  its  assessment,  there  should  be  little  complaint  in  regard 
either  to  the  amount  of  the  taxes  or  the  character  and  descrip- 
tion of  the  property  on  which  it  should  rest. 

They  have  the  remedy  in  their  own  hands,  and  can  speedily 
apply  it  through  appropriate  legislation.  It  is  otherwise  in  a 
despotic  government,  where  there  is  no  representation — where 
the  subjects  have  no  voice  in  legislation — and  are  obliged, 
willingly  or  unwillingly,  to  apply  their  property  to  discharge 
impositions  laid  upon  them  by  the  will  of  a  despotic  Prince. 
Man  is  ever  tyrannical  and  unjust  in  the  exercise  of  unlimited 
power  over  others,  and  experience  demonstrates  that  the  sole 
restraint  upon  the  will  of  a  despotic  Prince  on  this  subject,  is 
the  amount  of  the  burden  of  taxation  the  people  could  be  made 
to  endure.  Turgot,  the  Minister  of  Finance  of  Louis  XVI,  of 
France,  and  a  very  skillful  servant  of  his  sovereign  he  was 


31 


said,  that  "  taxation  was  the  art  of  plucking  the  goose  without 
making  it  cry."  And  he  is  a  very  unwise  Prince  whose  greedy 
exactions  kills  the  goose  which  lays  the  golden  egg.  But  tax- 
ation should  not  be  regarded  from  any  such  standpoint  in  a 
free  government.  Proper  and  legitimate  taxation  should  be 
and  is  cheerfully  borne  by  the  people  of  this  State,  because  it 
is  the  exponent  of  their  civilization,  and  affords  the  means  of 
protecting  rights  of  property,  character  and  liberty.  This 
country  can  be  engaged  in  no  expensive  war,  nor  can  large 
and  unnecessary  expenditures,  which  increase  the  burdens  of 
taxation,  be  incurred  without  the  concurrence  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  people.  If  we  engage  in  a  war  we  cheerfully 
bear  its  burdens  and  all  its  expenses,  as  it  is  our  own  war,  and 
at  its  close  we  prepare  to  adjust  and  discharge  its  cost,  and 
we  pension  the  gallant  soldier  who  nobly  prosecuted  the  strife 
for  us.  The  people  of  this  State,  before  the  burdens  imposed 
by  the  civil  war,  had  but  little  occasion  for  complaint  in  re- 
spect to  burdens  of  taxation.  They  were  always  too  light  to 
be  oppressive  in  any  sense,  and  were  readily  discharged  out  of 
the  increase  of  the  people  in  riches.  But  these  burdens  have 
within  the  last  few  years  rapidly  increased,  and  in  a  ratio  con- 
siderably in  advance  of  the  increased  "  assessed  "  valuation  of 
property,  and  have,  therefore,  properly  awakened  much  atten- 
tion and  discussion.  Taxation  in  New-York  has  grown  from 
$20,500,000  in  1861,  to  over  $50,300,000  in  1870,  a  most  ex- 
traordinary increase  within  such  a  space  of  time,  and  to  which 
the  increased  "  assessed  "  valuation  of  property  in  the  State 
bears  no  reasonable  relation.  The  consideration  of  this  im- 
portant matter  engaged  a  very  considerable  portion  of  the 
attention  of  the  last  Convention  assembled  in  this  State  for 
the  revision  of  the  Constitution.  But  although  there  was 
much  discussion,  it  eventuated  in  no  decided  action  or  distinct 
recommendation.  No  people  can  justly  complain  if  their  pro- 
perty be  fairly  and  equally  taxed  to  defray  the  proper  expens- 
es of  the  government.  It  is  inequality  which  gives  occasion  for 
complaint.  In  New-Yoik  we  have  no  poll-tax,  and  all  assess- 
ments for  the  maintenance  of  the  State,  as  well  for  the  Muni- 
cipal as  the  County  government,  is  made  upon  property.  And 
this  is  as  it  should  be,  for  property  should  pay  all  government 


expenses  incident  to  its  protection,  as  well  as  for  the  conser- 
vation ot  the  life,  liberty,  and  other  rights  of  the  owner.  But 
rigiu  and  watchful  care  should  be  ever  exercised,  that  these 
expenses,  which  are  to  be  paid  by  taxation,  be  kept  within 
reasonable  limits,  so  that  the  burdens  be  not  excessive  or  in- 
tolerable. All  experience  establishes  that  no  people  can  well 
thrive  under  excessive  taxation.  It  in  fact  leads  to  loss  of 
population,  and  in  the  end  to  waste  and  ruin. 

Bacon  truly  says,  "  The  blessing  of  Judah  and  Issachar  will 
"never  meet.  That  the  same  people  or  nation  shall  be  both 
"the  lion's  whelp,  and  the  ass  between  burdens."  But  as  al- 
ready observed,  inequality  in  taxation  is  aground  of  complaint, 
as  just  as  that  of  excessive  burdens,  although  perhaps  not  to 
the  same  degree. 


ASSESSMENT  IN  NEW-YORK,  IMPERFECT  AND  UNEQUAL. 


There  is  no  room  for  doubt,  that  the  system  of  the  assessment 
of  taxes  in  the  State  of  New- York,  is  very  imperfect  and  obnox- 
ious to  just  criticism  and  complaint.  A  careful  examination 
of  this  subject,  will  show  that  the  great  burden  of  taxation  in 
the  State  of  New- York,  falls  upon  the  rea]  estate,  while  per- 
sonal property  comparatively  escapes.  It  is  submitted  that  a 
system  of  laws,  or  their  administration,  which  leads  to  such 
results,  is  unjust,  and  needs  reformation.  Personal  property 
needs  protection  under  the  government,  as  well  as  land,  and 
receives  such  protection,  and  should  bear  an  equal  share  of 
the  expenses  of  maintaining  the  government  which  guards  it. 
In  fact,  it  is  quite  clear,  that  the  dependance  of  movable  prop- 
erty on  the  law  for  protection,  and  preservation,  is  greater  than 
that  of  land.  This  is  particularly  the  case  in  large  cities, 
where  such  property  has  to  be  specially  watched  and  guarded 
in  every  way,  by  municipal  and  police  regulations  to  protect  it 
from  thefts,  burglaries,  tires  and  other  methods  of  loss  and  ab- 
straction, to  which  land  is  not  exposed,  and  all  needed  legisla- 
tion and  means  of  administration,  is  invoked  for  this  purpose, 
and  is  always  granted  by  the  State. 


3ri 


PERSONAL  PROPERTY  NOT  FULLY  TAXED. 


This  inequality,  in  a  great  degree,  results  from  the  fact,  that 
a  large  portion  of  personal  property  is  invisible,  consisting  of 
bonds,  stocks,  and  choses  in  action,  which  can  be  readily  con- 
cealed from  observation,  while  fixed  property  is  open  to  ex- 
amination to  be  reached  by  the  Assessors.  And  besides,  while 
a  citizen  may  deduct  from  his  personal  estate,  in  determining 
the  amount  thereof  liable  to  taxation,  the  sum  of  all  charges 
against  him  thereon,  and  also  his  general  indebtedness  for  all 
causes,  no  such  deduction  can  be  made  for  any  lien  or  charge 
on  his  real  estate.  The  holder  of  real  estate,  is  assessed  with 
its  whole  value,  notwithstanding  it  may  be  charged  with  the 
lien  of  judgments,  mortgages,  or  assessments  for  its  improve- 
ment. In  addition,  a  very  considerable  amount  of  personal 
property  escapes  taxation  by  the  creation  of  fictitious  debts  by 
the  holders  and  owners  of  the  same — created  for  the  express 
purpose  of  reducing  the  amount  of  property  liable  to  taxation. 
Dishonorable  shifts  are  resorted  to  by  many  large  holders  of 
invisible  personal  property,  to  liberate  it  from  its  just  share  of 
taxation,  and  these  shifts,  through  the  imperfect  administra- 
tion of  the  law,  are  successful  to  a  great  degree.  There  is 
much  positive  fraud  and  concealment  practiced,  to  exonerate 
it  from  its  fair  proportion  of  governmental  burden.  It  is  sur- 
prising to  see  how  many  persons,  who  were  supposed  to  be  in 
the  most  easy  circumstances,  are  suddenly  found  to  be  with- 
out property,  or  greatly  indebted  about  the  time  the  assess- 
ments, preparatory  to  taxation,  are  annually  made.  So  great 
has  this  evil  become,  that  it  was  earnestly  advocated  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  by  many  earnest  thinkers  and  in- 
telligent men,  that  there  be  such  revision  made  of  the  assess- 
ment laws,  as  that  all  the  personal  estate  of  the  owners  be 
subjected  to  taxation,  without  any  deduction  on  account  of 
any  debts  they  may  owe,  and  such  scheme,  has  at  present, 
many  advocates  in  the  country — the  amount  and  value  of  the 
personal  estate  to  be  ascertained  for  such  purpose  by  a  state- 
ment in  writing,  verified  by  the  oath  of  the  owner  giving  the 
particulars  thereof,  and  to  be  by  him  delivered  to  the  Assessors. 
There  are  very  great  objections  to  such  an  extreme  course.  It 


34 


would  boar  doubtless,  with  great  hardship  on  the  citizens  of 
New-York,  and  especially  its  merchants,  whose  indebtedness 
on  account  of  the  merchandise  in  their  possession  is  often  very 
large,  and  the  measure  is  so  certain  at  all  times,  to  meet  with 
proper  opposition,  that  it  can  never  be  entirely  adopted. 

But  surely,  no  valid  reason  can  be  assigned,  why  more 
effective  measures  should  not  be  taken,  to  subject  to  taxa- 
tion the  vast  amount  of  personal  estate,  owned  by  the  citi- 
zens of  New- York,  and  situated  within  its  limits,  and  which, 
in  the  aggregate,  is  fully  equal  in  value  to  all  the  real  property 
within  the  bounds  of  the  State.  The  principle  should  be  set- 
tled and  clearly  understood,  that  all  personal  estate  situated  in 
New-York,  not  exempted  by  Federal  laws  from  taxation,  nor 
specially  excepted  by  our  own  Statutes  at  present,  over  and 
above  the  just  debts  of  the  owner  should  be  taxed,  and  all 
needed  legislation  to  this  end,  should  be  honestly  a  1  ministered 
to  reach  this  conclusion.  I  use  the  word  "  situated,"  to 
distinguish  such  property  from  goods,  merchandise,  or  other 
personal  effects  which  are  in  "  transit,"  or  only  temporarily 
here,  preparatory  to  removal  out  of  our  jurisdiction.  But 
property  abiding  here  for  the  use  of  trade,  and  enjoying  the  pro- 
tection of  our  laws,  should  bear  its  fair  share  of  the  burden  of 
taxation.  And  from  this  enumeration  of  personal  property, 
liable  to  taxation,  I  would  also  except,  as  a  matter  of  strict 
justice  and  propriety,  mortgages  on  real  estate,  with  the  bonds 
accompanying  the  same.  The  reasons  for  which  exception 
will  be  presently  stated.  To  exhibit  how  little  of  the  burden 
of  taxation  falls  upon  personal  estate,  we  need  only  consider 
that  the  whole  amount  of  property  returned  for  taxation,  in 
the  State  of  New-York,  for  the  years  1869  and  1870,  was 
$1,860,120,770,  of  which  $434,270,278,  or  less  than  one-quarter 
was  returned  as  personal  estate.  There  is  little  room  for 
doubt,  that  instead  of  $1,800,000,000  being  the  value  of  the  en- 
tire property,  real  and  personal,  of  the  State  of  New-York,  it 
is  fully  equal  to  six  billions  of  dollars.  And  if  all  this  property 
was  fairly  reached  and  subjected  to  taxation,  with  the  excep- 
tions above  alluded  to,  the  evils  and  consequent  burdens  of  ex- 
cessive and  unequal  taxation  would  disappear,  and  even  with 
an  expenditure  of  sixty  millions  per  annum,  the  rate  of  taxa- 


35 


tion  would  fall  to  one  per  cent.,  and  under.  And  if  the  laws, 
even  as  they  now  exist,  were  faithfully  administered,  the  rate 
of  taxation  would  scarcely  exceed  that  amount.  No  inquisi- 
torial examination  into  the  private  affairs  of  persons,  is  needed 
for  a  due  and  thorough  enforcement  of  the  laws,  nor  is  any 
such  suggested.  Personal  property  belonging  to  a  citizen  of 
New- York,  situated  without  the  State,  and  taxable  in  another 
jurisdiction,  can  not  be  assessed  here. 

VALUATION  OF  REAL  ESTATE. 

Another  evil  incident  to  our  present  system  of  assessment 
proceeds  from  the  want  of  truthfulness  or  uniformity  even,  in 
our  erroneous  system  of  the  valuation  of  real  estate  for  pur- 
poses of  taxation.  The  law  upon  this  subject  is  very  explicit, 
in  fact,  so  much  so,  that  he  who  runs  may  read. 

"  All  land  within  this  State,  whether  owned  by  individuals 
or  corporations,  shall  be  liable  to  taxation — all  real  estate  lia- 
ble to  taxation,  shall  be  estimated  and  assessed  by  the 
Assessors  at  its  true  and  full  value,  and  as  they  would  appraise 
the  same  in  payment  of  a  just  debt,  from  a  solvent  debtor." 

The  law  then  prescribes  that  the  Assessors,  after  the  com- 
pletion of  their  assessment  roll,  shall  make  and  subscribe  an 
oath,  to  the  effect  that  they  have  set  down  all  the  real  estate 
subject  to  their  jurisdiction,  and  have  estimated  the  same  at 
the  sums  which  a  majority  of  the  Assessors  have  decided  to 
be  the  true  and  full  value  thereof,  and  at  which  they  would 
appraise  the  same,  in  payment  of  a  just  debt  from  a  solvent 
debtor  ;  and  every  Assessor  who  shall  willfully  swear  false  in 
taking  and  subscribing  said  oath,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of, 
and  liable  to  the  penalties  of  wilfull  and  corrupt  perjury.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  find  a  law,  where  the  duty  of  the  officers 
to  administer  it  is  more  clearly  defined.  Yet  we  all  know  that 
the  law  is  so  treated,  as  to  have  become  substantially  a  dead 
letter.  Now,  under  this  law,  what  assessment  roll  which  has 
been  made  out  in  this  State,  in  any  part  of  it,  for  the  past  ten 
years,  is  true.  While  in  its  defective  administration,  much 
perjury  has  been  committed,  great  injustice  and  inequality  has 
also  arisen.   For  the  instant  a  departure  is  had  from  the  written 


36 


law,  entrance  is  made  at  once  upon  a  domain,  where  injury 
more  or  less,  is  sure  to  follow,  and  all  are  liable  to  suffer.  In 
the  erroneous  system  of  valuation  adopted,  instead  of  that 
pointed  out  by  the  Statute,  no  uniform  or  just  method  has 
been  instituted  in  its  stead.  It  is  entirely  arbitrary,  and  dif- 
ferent in  the  various  districts  of  the  State,  according  to  the 
option  of  the  Assessors.  It  is  not  pretended  that  a  semblance 
even  to  the  standard  of  valuation  determined  by  the  Statutes, 
has  been  followed  in  any  part  of  the  State,  and  the  rural  dis- 
tricts are  more  liable  to  criticism,  than  the  municipalities. 

While  the  personal  estate  in  New-York  is  not  assessed  to 
one-fifth  its  value,  the  real  estate  is  not  assessed  at  one-half. 
In  the  administration  of  their  office  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
State  there  seems  to  be  a  struggle  between  Assessors  as  to 
which  can  obtain  the  lowest  valuation,  in  order  that  the  peo- 
ple of  their  respective  districts  may  pay  the  lowest  rate  of 
taxation,  and  ministerial  officers  are  recommended  to  the  suf- 
frages of  their  constitutents  for  infidelity,  rather  than  fidelity 
in  office.  The  report  of  the  Commissioners,  of  which  the  Hon. 
David  A.  Wells  was  Chairman,  made  to  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  at  its  last  session,  contains  many  interesting  as  well 
as  startling  facts  on  the  subject,  and  which  I  would  recom- 
mend to  the  attention  of  all  the  members  of  the  West  Side 
Association.  From  this  report  it  appears  that  several  Coun- 
ties in  the  State,  which  we  may  well  have  heretofore  sup- 
posed were  increasing  in  wealth  and  in  the  value  of  their 
landed  property,  are  actually  declining. 

An  examination  of  the  assessment  rolls  for  the  County  of 
Oneida,  for  the  last  twenty-seven  years,  shows  an  increase  of 
value  of  only  $4,500,000 !  By  the  census  returns  of  the  year 
1865,  the  value  of  the  farms  alone  in  Oneida  County  is  set 
down  at  $27,000,000,  while  the  assessment  roll  for  1869,  five 
years  subsequently,  returns  the  real  estate  at  only  $14,600,000. 
In  Westchester  County,  the  assessed  value  of  the  land  in 
1869  was  $45,600,000 ;  any  estimate  of  the  value  of  real  estate 
of  Westchester  County  less  than  $150,000,000,  it  is  submitted 
would  be  low.  Dutchess  County  is  supposed  to  be  one  of  the 
richest  agricultural  counties  in  the  State,  and  yet  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  assessment  rolls  of  that  County  for  the  past 


37 


ten  years  shows,  that  the  value  of  these  choice  farming  lands 
and  real  estate  of  the  County  has  decreased  during  that  time 
some  $250,000.  And  an  examination  of  the  assessment  rolls 
shows  that  the  County  of  Monroe,  which  we  had  supposed  to 
be  increasing  in  wealth  and  prosperity,  is  in  a  condition  of  ac- 
tual decline.  There  has  been  a  decrease  during  the  last  eleven 
years  in  the  assessed  value  of  its  property  of  over  $1,000,000. 
Similar  results  are  disclosed  by  an  examination  of  the  assess- 
ment rolls  of  other  Counties  in  the  State. 

From  which  the  disheartening  inference  might  be  drawn  by 
a  person  unfamiliar  with  our  method  of  assessments,  that  the 
apparent  prosperity  of  the  State  is  nominal  only.  That  the 
outward  evidences  of  life  conceal  a  principle  of  progressive 
decay  beneath.  That  instead  of  advancing  in  wealth  we  are 
at  a  stand  still,  aye  more  than  that,  going  back ! 

But  we  need  yield  to  no  despondency.  The  decline  is  on 
paper  only,  and  is  made  to  avoid  a  burden  of  taxation  which 
in  a  free  State,  if  fairly  enforced,  should  be  cheerfully  borne. 

REFORM  NECESSARY. 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  first  consequence  to  us  in  New-York, 
and  to  the  members  of  this  Association,  that  this  whole  sub- 
ject be  placed  on  such  a  basis  of  valuation,  whether  it  may  be 
the  actual  value  or  fifty  per  cent,  thereof,  as  will  secure 
certainty,  uniformity,  and  honesty  in  the  administration  of  the 
law.  "  Equality  is  equity  "  is  a  legal  maxim,  and  fitly  applies 
to  this  subject.  In  addition,  the  whole  system  as  at  present 
administered  is  demoralizing  in  the  extreme.  It  begets  a  con- 
tempt for  the  acts  of  officials  and  the  binding  character  of 
oaths.  The  subject  calls  for  legislative  action,  and  this  Asso- 
ciation could  perform  no  higher  service  to  the  public  than 
through  its  efforts  to  have  this  matter  placed  on  some  uniform 
basis.  Either  have  all  the  real  estate  in  the  State  of  New- 
York  estimated  at  its  true  value — which  would  at  once  reduce 
the  amount  of  taxation — or  else  have  it  estimated,  say  upon  a 
basis  of  fifty  per  cent,  of  its  true  market  value,  as  recommended 
by  the  Commissioners  in  their  report.  The  standard  should 
be  fixed,  certain  and  uniform,  over  the  entire  State. 


38 


EXEMPTION  OF  MORTGAGES. 


But  before  I  close  I  beg  to  say  a  few  words  on  the  subject 
of  mortgages  on  real  estate  and  their  exemption  from  taxation. 
Experience  in  other  States  is  a  good  teacher,  for  us.  In  the 
States  of  New  Jersey,  Connecticut,  and  Pennsylvania,  mort- 
gages on  real  property  are  exempted  from  taxation  over  a  very 
considerable  portion  of  their  respective  territories.  The  result 
has  proved  beneficial  to  the  States  in  question,  and  greatly  to 
the  advantage  of  the  districts  in  which  the  exemption  prevails. 
It  has  resulted  in  the  more  freely  loaning  of  money  by  capital- 
ists on  mortgages  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  for  the  im- 
provement of  both  farming  lands  and  of  real  estate  in  cities. 
Its  operation  has  been  to  increase  the  population  of  towns  and 
cities,  where  individuals  who  have  invested  moneys  in  mort- 
gages, may  reside  and  hold  same,  and  draw  their  interest 
without  deduction  for  the  purpose  of  taxation,  the  real  estate 
upon  which  the  mortgage  rests  paying  the  burden.  Under 
the  laws  of  New- York,  mortgages  on  land  are  subjects  of  taxa- 
tion ;  and  as  they  are  obliged  to  be  recorded  in  a  public  office 
to  render  them  perfect  securities,  they  are  open  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  Assessors  and  are  certain  to  be  reached.  They 
cannot  well  be  concealed.  The  rate  of  interest  allowed  by 
law  with  us  is  fixed  at  7  per  centum  per  annum.  Taxation  on 
mortgages  and  on  the  income  derived  therefrom,  both  Federal 
and  State,  has  the  effect  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest  to  the 
holder  to  less  than  5  per  centum  per  annum.  The  conse- 
quence follows  that  few  persons  care  to  loan  money  on  such 
security.  No  one  does  so  through  choice.  Investments  in 
government  stock  and  other  bond  securities  perfectly  safe 
and  attended  with  no  inconvenience  can  be  effected  more 
readily,  yielding  a  higher  rate  of  interest  and  subject  to  no 
State  taxation.  Certain  trust  funds  and  a  portion  of  the  cap- 
ital stock  of  some  corporations,  life  and  fire  insurance  com- 
panies, must  continue  not  from  choice,  but  because  compelled 
by  law,  to  be  so  invested ;  but  the  amount  is  inconsiderable  in 
comparison  with  what  was  formerly  done.  This  condition  of 
affairs  is  unnatural.  Loans  by  way  of  mortgage  on  real  estate, 
bearing  interest  at  the  legal  rate,  should  be  a  favorite  invest- 


39 


merit.  If  properly  made  no  security  can  be  better.  Such 
investments  from  their  nature,  deserve  encouragement  in  every 
point  of  consideration.  They  furthermore  cause  real  estate  to 
be  more  conveniently  handled  and  disposed  of.  Such  invest- 
m3iits  and  loans  tend  directly  to  the  improvement  and  increase 
in  the  value  of  real  property.  The  proper  method  of  relief,  is 
to  entirely  exempt  mortgages  on  real  estate  from  taxation.  It 
has  been  suggested  that  the  usury  laws,  so  far  as  they  concern 
loans  by  way  of  mortgage,  should  be  abolished  or  modified. 
But  I  would  not  advocate  any  such  partial  legislation  on  this 
subject  in  favor  of  mortgages.  If  we  are  to  have  laws  against 
usury,  they  should  apply  to  all  loans  of  money,  however  se- 
cured. Nor  is  there  any  injustice  or  inequality  in  exempting 
mortgages  from  taxation.  Real  estate,  in  so  far  as  it  is  mort- 
gaged, bears  an  undue  proportion  of  tax.  It  leads  to  double 
taxation.  It  is  not  allowed  to  deduct  from  the  value  of  real 
estate  the  amount  of  an  incumbrance  by  way  of  mortgage 
thereon,  and  yet  the  amount  of  the  mortgage  enters  into  and 
forms  a  part  of  its  value.  The  mortgage  is  a  mere  lien  on  the 
realty.  It  is  a  collateral  security  to  a  bond  which  the  mort- 
gagor must  pay  to  procure  a  discharge  of  his  property  from 
the  force  of  the  mortgage.  Were  this  a  chattel  morgage,  or  a 
lien  on  personal  estate  of  any  character,  or  even  an  open,  un- 
secured debt,  the  owner  of  the  chattel,  or  debtor,  would  be 
allowed  to  deduct  the  amount  from  his  personal  estate  in  fix- 
ing the  amount  and  value  of  that  description  of  property 
liable  to  taxation.  But  if  a  mortgagor,  in  a  real  estate  mort- 
gage, owns  no  personal  estate,  while  he  is  liable  to  be  assessed 
the  full  value  of  his  real  estate,  he  is  allowed  no  deduction  for 
the  mortgage,  and  the  holder  of  the  mortgage  is  assessed,  in 
addition,  for  the  amount  of  the  mortgage  in  his  hands  as  per- 
sonal estate.  This  operates  clearly  as  a  double  taxation,  both 
the  realty  into  which  the  mortgage  enters  as  a  part  of  its 
value  and  the  mortgage  itself  being  taxed.  And  this,  too, 
when  more  than  three-fourths  of  all  the  personal  property — 
in  its  comprehensive  sense — in  the  State  escapes  taxation. 


40 


DUTY  OF  WEST  SIDE  ASSOCIATION. 

The  West  Side  Association  will  perceive,  from  this  review 
that  there  is  a  proper  occasion  and  subject  for  inquiry  and 
action,  both  as  to  what  should  be  taxed,  and  as  to  the  principle 
and  method  of  assessment.  But  whatever  is  done,  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  it  is  only  property  actually  acquired  which 
should  be  impressed  by  taxation.  The  means  by  which  it  is 
gained  should  not  be  paralyzed.  The  blossoms  should  not  be 
blasted,  a  portion  only  of  the  matured  fruit  should  be  applied 
to  defray  the  just  expanses  of  the  State  and  the  maintenance 
of  good  government  and  order.  And  the  members  of  this 
Association  should  bear  in  mind  that  each  one  has  a  duty  to 
perforin  in  respect  to  the  subject  discussed  here  to-night. 
Each  one  has  an  influence  to  be  rightly  and  efficiently  exer- 
cised towards  the  required  legislative  action  in  the  premises. 
No  reform  or  improvement  was  ever  reached  by  inaction. 
What  is  needed  is  agitation,  discussion,  and  direct  effort. 
Every  person  who  owns  any  property,  whether  he  means  to 
hold  on  to  it,  or  dispose  of  it,  and  each  person  who  desires  to 
acquire  property,  has  a  direct  pecuniary  interest  in  this  mat- 
ter, and  should  exert  his  influence  to  effect  the  needed  im- 
provement in  our  tax  laws.  And  all  of  us,  as  citizens  of  New- 
York,  should  have  some  concern  for  a  wise,  just,  and  impar- 
tial administration  of  the  laws,  and  for  the  purity  and  fidelity 
of  the  officers  whose  duty  it  is  to  execute  them. 


■:o: 


The  following  Resolutions  were  offered  by  Mr.  Eoswell  D. 
Hatch,  and  unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  property-owners  on  the  West  Side  are 
in  favor  of  the  immediate  completion  of  the  legal  proceedings 
for  taidng  the  land  for  the  Riverside  Park,  so  that  the  work 
of  turning  it  into  a  park  may  be  commenced  this  summer. 


41 


Resolved,  That  the  work  on  the  Boulevard,  in  preparing  it 
for  travel  this  season,  should  be  prosecuted  by  the  Department 
with  greater  energy  and  attention. 

Resolved,  That  the  completion  of  the  suspension  bridge 
across  the  Harlem  River  is  of  great  importance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  West  Side  property,  and  that  we  are  in  favor  of  the 
speedy  prosecution  of  that  work. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned. 


JAMES  F.  KUGGLES, 

Secretary. 


I 


iJWEtff 


Attn  mme!  I 


A<   *.<  ,«.*  AM  */.«■.«/ 


